What is the Longest Word, You Can Create from the Letters in a Single Row of a Keyboard?
The answer is here.
But it is rather predictable, if you believe in conspiracy theories.
Gossip About Polythene
I’m putting in this post, as it was just office gossip with a guy I shared an office with at ICI Mond Division in Runcorn, but feel it ought to be recorded before I forget it again.
Bert Cross was ICI Mond’s infra-red analysis expert and he was a man who’d worked for the company from well before the Second World War. I remember one classic tale about the visit of the then Lord Melchett to the laboratories, where Bert then worked in Northwich and the Lord’s meeting with a researcher, who let’s say didn’t like the idea of capitalism. Whenever, I hear the current Lord Melchett mentioned, I chuckle at Bert’s tale.
Bert also told how when polythene was discovered at ICI’s laboratories by accident, when they were applying high pressures to ethylene gas. They found this waxy substance in the experiments. but they had no idea what to do with it. One idea that was current, was that it might be added to candles to stop them bending. In the end it was polythene’s excellent electrical insulation properties combined with the need to develop better radar systems in the Second World War, that were to prove polythene’s earliest substantial use.
In the early days, it was thought that polythene was a perfect polymer, with no cross linking or imperfections. Bert disproved this using infra-red analysis and always claimed he was nearly fired for his work.
Later when I worked at ICI Plastics Division, I didn’t actually work on polythene, but I worked with others who did.
At the time, ICI made low-density polythene and this was an amazing process with high-pressures, whirling shafts to mix it all and bearings that were lubricated by molten polythene. It was engineering at its most difficult and best. The section I worked for, had actually applied computer control to two plants, using IBM 1800 computers.
At the time, one of ICI’s products was a high-grade cable-grade polythene used where a high-degree of electrical insulation was required. A lot of this product went to Tupperware, as it made the containers look perfect.
Building Scientific Models with Computers
This was the title of a lecture at University College London, that I attended yesterday lunchtime.
It was an excellent lecture and in some ways it was like going back forty years to when I worked at ICI Plastics in Welwyn Garden City. In fact two topics, that were discussed by Professor Catlow, were similar to problems I tackled all of those years ago.
The first was the problems of turbulent and other flows. We had been interested in what happened inside an extruder as you used it to force plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC into moulds to produce the products needed. It was an intractable problem then and I suspect it might be almost as bad today. Although computers are now bigger and can handle many more nodes than the hundred or so, we could handle on our PACE 231R or with IBM 360/CSMP.
I also found his discussion of the various forms of molecules and how they could be predicted fascinating and if we’d had someone with his knowledge, we’d have got a lot farther with another problem.
When you create polymers, you create long chains of molecules like ethylene and propylene etc. which lock together like a series of odd-shaped Lego bricks. These chains then bind together to form the items we need.
At the time, ICI were trying to create an engineering plastic, which would be stronger and have a greater temperature range. I won’t name it here, as I don’t want to break any confidentiality, but suffice to say that the monomer or polymer building block, needed to be created as a straight molecule for the integrity of the plastic. It was known that several forms of monomer could be created and that there was a rather complicated separation process to extract the straight ones. Just as in Professor Catlow’s example yesterday, water in the reaction, was one of the factors, that affected the proportion of desired monomer.
Now I’m not a chemist but I was asked to look at the physics and dynamics of the reaction, with respect to removing the errant water from the reaction vessel as soon as possible after its creation, to reduce the damage it could do. In the end, I made myself very unpopular, as I often did, by finding a method that removed the water. I can remember searching Chemical Abstracts and finally found the data I wanted in a paper published by a Chinese researcher working in Canada in 1909. We don’t know how lucky we are with Google and the Internet.
I left ICI soon after I completed this work, so I don’t know the final outcome!
But to me, the exercise proved the value of using dynamic computer models based on differential equations, to understand difficult systems.
In some ways, I was able to do this work, because I was properly taught calculus and how to form differential equations at school. Would such an important subject now be taught to sixteen-year-olds as was regularly done in the 1960s at schools similar to the one I attended?
The King’s Speech
I went to see this film last night and it is one not to be missed.
The publicity described Lionel Logue as a controversial speech therapist, but although I know little about the field, a lot of what he said to the King would now be considered main stream. For instance, in the film, Logue suggests that the King’s problems are routed in how he was treated as a child. This would be something that would be accepted by many people today.
I have only the vaguest memories of George VI, as he died when I was six. I have read an excellent biography, which I seem to remember doesn’t mention Logue at all. I think, when the history o the British monarchy is written in a couple of hundred years time, George VI will be ranked as one of our best. Especially, as he overcame his difficulties to be a much-needed wartime inspiration. We probably wouldn’t be here now, if his dreadful brother had been king at the time.
There’s Nothing Like a Good Screw
Or to be fair a hexagonal headed brass bolt.
A Quality Brass Bolt and a Crap Steel One
I’m replacing all the bolts in the staircase with proper brass ones. Note the the steel ones were put in oversized and then just shortened with a hacksaw. But I’ve bought the brass ones the right size!
I think it’s getting to look how the architect intended it to.
But why wasn’t it done properly in the first place?
In Search of Daura
According to the Internet there is a Spanish gluten-free beer called Estrella Damm Daura, but finding it has proved somewhat difficult, as the site is a bit dodgy and the contact form doesn’t work. So as the Internet also said that it was available at a pub called The Draft House by Tower Bridge, I decided that today I’d go and search.
So I took the reliable 141 bus to London Bridge and walked along the river.
HMS Belfast and Tower Bridge
Finally I found the pub on the approach to Tower Bridge.
The Draft House, Tower Bridge Road
They do stock the Daura, but I found something more to my taste.
Fixing the Stairs
I’ve found that the solution to my staircase is to replace the nuts with dombed brass ones like these.
Brass Dombed Nuts and Washers
They look much better and as they cost a couple of pounds each, you get a much better cosmetic effect for not too much effort. If you need anything like this I can recommend Clerkenwell Screws in the Clerkenwell Road.
I also bought this screwdriver there.
King Dick Super 2000 One for Six Screwdriver
It fits all six types of Phillips and Pozidrive screw, so now you only need one screwdriver for cross head screws. At just £8.99, this King Dick Super 2000 One for Six is very much a bargain.
Give Peas a Chance
And coeliacs too, it would appear, judging by the menu.
The Manager at Hummus Bros
I came across the Southampton Row branch of Hummus Bros as I walked towards Euston from Holborn.
Hummus Bros, Southampton Row
I had a good coffee for just 50p, as it was their price for after 2:00 pm and it is certainly somewhere, I’ll try again.
Sicilian Avenue
This used to be one of those places that pre-Internet, computer programmers used to go to get their books at an excellent computer book-store.
Sicilian Avenue, Holborn
The Sicilian Avenue was built about a hundred years ago as a pavement cafe area and as the photograph shows it is currently being refurbished. It would make a very appropriate location for a Carluccio‘s, but I suspect that the premises will be too small for them.
Where C Used to Work
C was a family barrister and this picture shows one of the places, where her important cases used to end up, The Principle Registry of the Family Division.
The Principle Registry of the Family Division
It is rather anonymous building for such an important court. For many years the court was in the grandeur of Somerset House and then in a less grand building by Holborn Tube Station. I think it is true to say that the later buildings were chosen for cost rather than legal gravitas reasons.
