Willard Harvey Wattenburg (February 9, 1936 â€" August 2, 2018) was an
American inventor, engineer, author, and talk radio show host from
California. Advertisements for his show often referred to him as "The
Smartest Man in the World."Born and raised in Greenville, California,
in rural Plumas County, Wattenburg grew up working with his father in
the logging business. His scientific talent was discovered by a
teacher, who encouraged him to apply to several schools, including the
University of California, Berkeley where he completed his first year
with honors. After his freshman year, Wattenburg moved back to assist
his father in his business, and graduated from California State
University, Chico, summa cum laude in physics and electrical
engineering. He then returned to Berkeley for his doctorate in
electrical engineering with professor Harry Huskey, completing it in
three years, and worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
and as a professor at Berkeley until 1970. After that, he was a
consultant to various engineering and defense-oriented businesses. He
remained a consultant to the Livermore Laboratory until his death.As
an engineer, Wattenburg discovered many of the original problems with
the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, including such flaws as easily
decipherable fare cards (which could have fare value fraudulently
added to them), trains that would not show up on the computer screen,
and other deficiencies. He published numerous articles in scientific
journals and continued to do research as an adjunct professor at
California State University, Chico.As an inventor, Wattenburg had
eight patents to his credit, one being the first home alarm system
using electrical wiring for its communication medium. Many of his
ideas, such as using flatbed rail cars as temporary bridges,
unenergized electric water heaters for storage of emergency potable
water, and converting plow blades into minesweepers are deceptively
simple variants of prior art or folk technology.
American inventor, engineer, author, and talk radio show host from
California. Advertisements for his show often referred to him as "The
Smartest Man in the World."Born and raised in Greenville, California,
in rural Plumas County, Wattenburg grew up working with his father in
the logging business. His scientific talent was discovered by a
teacher, who encouraged him to apply to several schools, including the
University of California, Berkeley where he completed his first year
with honors. After his freshman year, Wattenburg moved back to assist
his father in his business, and graduated from California State
University, Chico, summa cum laude in physics and electrical
engineering. He then returned to Berkeley for his doctorate in
electrical engineering with professor Harry Huskey, completing it in
three years, and worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
and as a professor at Berkeley until 1970. After that, he was a
consultant to various engineering and defense-oriented businesses. He
remained a consultant to the Livermore Laboratory until his death.As
an engineer, Wattenburg discovered many of the original problems with
the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, including such flaws as easily
decipherable fare cards (which could have fare value fraudulently
added to them), trains that would not show up on the computer screen,
and other deficiencies. He published numerous articles in scientific
journals and continued to do research as an adjunct professor at
California State University, Chico.As an inventor, Wattenburg had
eight patents to his credit, one being the first home alarm system
using electrical wiring for its communication medium. Many of his
ideas, such as using flatbed rail cars as temporary bridges,
unenergized electric water heaters for storage of emergency potable
water, and converting plow blades into minesweepers are deceptively
simple variants of prior art or folk technology.
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