(Died: December 1, 1977)
Interests: Electrostatics Age: 75
In 1955 C.L. Stong began editing The Amateur Scientist column in Scientific American. Stong was an electrical engineer from 1926 to 1962 for Westinghouse. He extended the column, frequently peppering it with extremely sophisticated projects including home-built lasers and atom smashers. Many working professional scientists say that they first got hooked on science through Stong's amazing columns. One of the activities Strong promoted during the International Geophysical Year was a program for amateur astronomers called Operation Moonwatch. It involved the tracking of satellites by amateurs.
In 1960 Stong compiled a book titled The Amateur Scientist, (Simon and Schuster) the only collection of articles that has ever been published from this column prior to Carlson's complete CD-collection (see below). However, limited to paper and ink, Stong could only fit in 57 projects. Despite being only a partial anthology, never being advertised in Scientific American, and appearing long before the rise of home schooling, Stong's book was reviewed in New Scientist as "most fascinating" and sold well. It went out of print in 1972 and is much sought-after today by amateur scientists and collectors.
