Jon Plotkin
Graduated innocuously from Brookline (MA) High School. Successfully completed bachelor's program at Cornell Univ. and lost bachelor standing to the former Gail Gersowitz. Mrs. Plotkin and I were given 6 months max by those who knew us. Earned a Master's Degree in meteorology at MIT in 1965 and did the only sensible thing: became a lobster fisherman. We ate well.
By and by, through the normal course of events, a daughter appeared ("I'll never do that again"---Mrs. P). After said daughter completed 6 grades in the Hull (MA) school system, family removed to Florida, where Mrs. P., having no more child-bearing responsibility, convinced me it would be a good idea to start a dinner theater. Thus began my career as actor, director, sales manager, advertising manager, disc jockey, host, mc, and chief cook and bottle washer for our business. I also fished commercially in Florida, returned to MA for lobster season, and began writing for fishing and boating magazines.
Eventually, my $100000 education was put to use writing weather columns for 3 different publications and avoiding being on the high seas when winds topped 50 miles per hour. Now in the third phase of my life (youth, middle age, "you look good"), I spend my time fishing (I sold my boat; now I have something better than a boat---a friend with a boat), playing with my 6 year old grandson, going to the dermatologist, and writing riveting bios for online publishers.
Latest Articles
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Summer Solstice: The Unequinox; a Planetary Inflection Point
Just when you think the sun will climb to ever-higher latitudes and throw the southern hemisphere into perpetual darkness, it reverses course.
May 10, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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The Medium of Light Propagation: The Luminiferous Ether -- Not
When experiments showed light was a wave, like sound, there was a question of what medium it propagated through. The surprising answer was: none
Apr 30, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Why Are We Here? The Just-Right Efficiency of Fusion.
The fusion of hydrogen to helium that powers the stars proceeds at a precise rate. A little faster or slower and there'd be no life in the universe.
Apr 13, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Supernovas Enable Life and Provide a Measure for the Universe
Exploding stars distribute heavy elements such as oxygen and carbon that are essential to life. The Chandrasekhar limit gives us a cosmic measuring stick.
Mar 29, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Eliminating the Possibility of Meltdown at Nuclear Power Plants
There is a way to guard against a catastrophic meltdown at a nuclear power plant if enough water is available.
Mar 16, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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The 2010 Census and The Electoral College in 2012, 2016, and 2020
Of all the results of the 2010 United States census, its effect on presidential politics is potentially the most important.
Mar 8, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Vernal Equinox and Leap Years
The spring equinox occurs on March 20, but the day and night are equal on March 16. Due to leap years, the date is changing so that spring starts earlier.
Mar 4, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Pi Day: The Day Before the Ides of March is a Tribute to Pi
The relationship between the circumference and the diameter of a circle is ubiquitous. Now it even has its own date.
Feb 25, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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Lucky Homo Sapiens: How Did Intelligent Life Arise on Earth?
A confluence of fortunate events has led to at least one intelligent life-form in the universe. How did we come to exist and is life rare in the cosmos?
Feb 14, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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World Wind Systems: an Explanation of Trade Winds and Westerlies
In any given location on the earth, there is a "prevailing" wind. Why does the wind blow predominantly one way in one place, and a different way in another?
Feb 7, 2012
- Jon Plotkin
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