The Amateur Scientist
From 1928 until 2001, Scientific American magazine published a monthly column entitled The Amateur Scientist. In its pages were presented over one thousand science projects from almost every field of science. Project authors were both professional and amateur scientists. The articles contained enough detail to reproduce significant pieces of apparatus such as vaccum systems and particle accelerators! C. L. Stong was perhaps the most well known editor (and contributor) of this collection. Other authors included Jearl Walker, Forrest M. Mims III, and Shawn Carlson.
While the term amateur may conjure up a vision of crank pot or non-professional this couldn't be further from the truth as many of the projects require sophisticated scientific methods to reproduce their results. In 1957, C.L. Stong published a short archive of selected projects in a book titled, "The Scientific American Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist". As of 2004, the entire collection of articles is available on CD-ROM from the non-profit Society for Amateur Scientists.
Referenced By
SciAm | Scientific American
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