[~ot]magnets was Re: [FT] Railgun Goals

On Fri, 27 Nov 1998, Thomas Anderson wrote:
> On Fri, 27 Nov 1998, Andrew & Alex wrote:
> > A short, large diameter barrel is
> > easier to manufacture and aim than a long, thin barrel.
> in the case of coils, this force is outwards. hence, at large fields,
> electromagnets tend to explode.

in a remarkable and sad case of synchronicity, Prof Nicholas Kurti, who
worked on magnetic cooling here, died on tuesday; i read his obituary in
the Independent today, where this is quoted from his memoirs:

"I built the solenoid and with great expectation late one evening I
pressed the switch which sent a current of 40 amperes through the coil.
The result was spectacular - a deafening explosion, the apparatus
disappeared, all windows were blown in our out, a wall caved in, and
thus 
ended my pioneering experiment on liquid hydrogen cooled coils!"

Kurti did this work in the 1930s after fleeing to the UK to escape the
Nazis.

Tom