Stewart, John L. 1925-

PERSONAL: Born April 19, 1925, in Pasadena, CA; son of John P. (a food company executive) and Edith Irene (a homemaker and writer; maiden name, Lichty) Stewart; married Rita Greenberg, September 15, 1951; children: Bradley C., Mark R. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Stanford University, B.S., 1948, M.S., 1949, Ph.D., 1953. Politics: Independent. Religion: "None (humanist)." Hobbies and other interests: Hiking, flying, scuba diving, exploring.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—3205 SE Spyglass Dr., Vancouver, WA 98683. E-mail—setinc@setinc.com.

CAREER: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, research engineer, 1949–51; Hughes Aircraft Co., worked on mathematical and statistical theory, 1951; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, assistant professor of electrical engineering, 1953–56; California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, associate professor, 1956–59; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, associate professor of electrical engineering, 1959; University of Arizona, Tucson, professor of electrical engineering, 1959–62; Santa Rita Technology, Inc., founder and president, 1962–72; Av-Alarm Corp. (makers of acoustic pest repelling equipment), founder and president, 1972–82; Covox, Inc., founder and president, 1982–90; SET, Inc., president, 1990–. Professional engineer and consultant; Vancouver Airport, member of advisory board; SCORE, vice chair and counselor. Military service: U.S. Army Air Forces, 1943–45; served in England; became first lieutenant; received Air Medal with oak leaf cluster.

MEMBER: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Publishers Marketing Association, APS, PNBA, Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, Eta Kappa Nu.

WRITINGS:

Circuit Theory and Design, Wiley (New York, NY), 1956.

Circuit Analysis of Transmission Lines, Wiley (New York, NY), 1958.

Signal Theory, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1960.

The Bionic Ear, Covox (Santa Maria, CA), 1979.

The Forbidden Diary: A B-24 Navigator Remembers (memoir), McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor) John C. Fremont, Fremont's Greatest Western Exploration: In Fremont's Own Words, with Modern Maps, SET Inc. (Vancouver, WA), Volume 1: The Dalles to Pyramid Lake, 1999, Volume 2: Circling the Great Basin, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: John L. Stewart once told CA: "My greatest pleasures come from exploring. What I call exploring is not quite conventional. It is done in order to discover something new, whatever may be the field of endeavor—math, science, human affairs, evolution, et cetera. I like to write because I want to tell the world about the things that I have discovered or am trying to discover.

"My principal sources of influence have related to forms of applied mathematics. My general interest in all forms of exploring as well as the mathematical background to navigation have been important in the writing task about John C. Fremont. Another source of inspiration for this particular book was that I inherited an original copy of his report to the congress and found it most enjoyable. A real diary from many years ago caused me to write my war memoirs.

"My Web site allows me full range of expression because articles can deal with virtually any form of applied mathematics. I emphasize that it is the applied form of math that leads to discoveries, including those in geology and even population dynamics.

"Somewhere along the line I became interested in the population problems in the world. This began with a reading of the original works of Thomas Malthus (very dry and tedious stuff). What he observed and what Fremont reports were so similar that I connect the two and say so in the last chapter of my book on Fremont. A future writing effort may be a study of population trends and dynamics combined with economics and sociology as pioneered by a trio of remarkable men—Adam Smith, then Thomas Malthus, then Charles Darwin. Perhaps a major reason for interest in this field is a terrible fear that our world will succumb to universal poverty from far too many inhabitants. I am too old to be around when it happens, but my grandchildren might suffer the consequences.

"How do I write? In the old days, an old Underwood typewriter with little key caps to print special math characters was used. I benefited greatly from once taking a high school typing course (now called 'keyboarding'). Now I use a word processing application, sometimes a very simple one that works on an old PC without a hard drive. As a publisher I try to get printing done at the lowest possible cost, so I provide camera-ready copy. If photographs are included, or even maps, halftones are made of these and submitted along with the text. I work from a general outline, but not a very detailed one. With everything saved to disk, going back and forth is not difficult.

"There is one more passion that I have. That is to bring back simple old BASIC so that the commoner can calculate business or other applied math problems without first going through the pain of programming classes. Without this capability, the typical citizen gets further and further out of tune with the modern world and must thus feel less and less important as an individual, and ever less likely to want to be an explorer."

Stewart later added: "I am currently active in writing about applied mathematics with low-cost booklets aimed at the average adult or near-adult. I am concerned that we are losing our status as a world leader, with ever fewer young people seeking careers in science and engineering. If successful as booklets, several may be combined into a single book.

"The first booklet is called 'Money-Math.' It covers growth of accrued savings, retirement draws, insurance, and some costs associated with driving an automobile. The principal tool is the low-cost calculator. Basic programs are also presented. The second booklet is devoted to a variety of phenomena with arrow-headed lines (bridge structures, airplane wings, etc.). It features geometry, the Pythagorean theorem, and calculating pi. Some concepts in pattern-recognition are included. The third book let covers topics in physics such as statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, and more.

"All of these booklets are written to be understood by the average American, including politicians, school board members, high school teachers, and even editors. A number of working programs in the Basic language are demonstrated, showing how much they are like the procedures one uses with pencil and paper and a pocket calculator. Sources of low-cost Basic programming languages are listed. My Web site Mathemechanix: Business-Technology-Science will contain summaries of booklets and make hard copies available. There I am also presenting a series of short articles on these various subjects to certain professional and general interest magazines. There is more than enough material to keep me going with periodic articles for as long as I can sit at a keyboard.

"Other possible writing efforts include a survey form of Fremont's travels. I may also write a new version of my war stories, with the aid of my wife. She lived through the London Blitz."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Stewart, John L., The Forbidden Diary: A B-24 Navigator Remembers, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1998.

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, June 1, 1998, Michael Coleman, review of The Forbidden Diary: A B-24 Navigator Remembers, p. 129.

ONLINE

Mathemechanix: Business-Technology-Science, http://www.setinc.com/ (February 27, 2006).