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physics

No Damn Cat, and No Damn Cradle | Van Kooten on Cat’s Cradle

By Dan Pyle in Physics on

Rick Van Kooten   John, the intrepid narrator of Cat’s Cradle, is working on a book describing what Americans were doing at the precise moment the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He tries to contact the three children of the late Felix Hoenikker, Nobel Laureate and so-called “father of the atomic bomb,” for greater insight. We learn of Dr. Hoenikker’s …

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The Sirens of Titan: Playfully Toying with Time | Van Kooten on The Sirens of Titan

By Dan Pyle in Physics on

Rick Van Kooten   As an undergraduate student, our friend Kurt Vonnegut studied mechanical engineering, chemistry, and biology, and subsequently worked as a publicist for General Electric in New York. He clearly enjoyed animated conversations with his brother, Bernard, an atmospheric scientist working at a GE research laboratory and credited with discovering that silver iodide could be used effectively in cloud seeding to produce snow and …

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