INFINITY and Beyond!

Some readers of this Blog might legitimately ask, "Did you ever go to class?"


Yes, and it was there my horizons and a love for learning took shape. We were blessed with some very good teachers. One that made an immediate and lasting impact upon me was Mr. Kelso Franklin. It was in his Algeria I  class I heard for the very first time the word "Infinity." His definition intrigued me when he said, "Infinity is where parallel lines cross." That was a heavy duty concept for a freshman, and it still is for me today. (Very young kids today hear the word " Infinity" in the many futuristic cartoon shows. By the way, I really enjoyed the Toy Story 1,2, & 3 movies. Woody and Buzz Light Year are a permanent part of  our cultural landscape. When our son was 6 years old he would trump his buddies with an unmatchable bet: Infinity Bucks!)


Mr. Franklin, taught all of the math classes. Geometry was of particular interest to me. The logic made sense and there was an historical  connection with Euclid and those early developers of math concepts that are firm foundations of almost ever aspects of our daily lives.


Another reason I enjoyed Geometry was it marked the first time in high school I was in the same classroom with some upperclassman. (The Bible says in many places that Pride is a sin. I confess I had more than my share in high school and at 70 years old, I still wrestle with it. Time will cure most problems with uncontrolled thoughts of Passion. But Pride, like computer hard drives must  regularly be defragmented.) I mention Pride in connection with Geometry class, because I privately celebrated my achievements when I out-scored the upperclassman.


Algebra II was much easier than Algebra I, at least for me. In addition, I took Business Math, because I needed the credits. While I did well in class, I have not done a very good job in implementing all of the principles in our family's financial affairs. (One of the many reasons I so enjoy the writings and movies of Oklahoma's own, Will  Rogers, is his pithy timeless wisdom:  "God sure must love poor folks because he made so many of us!" If you travel to Oklahoma, a visit to the Will Rogers Museum in Claremore, OK will be richly rewarded.)


Physics was really eye-opening for me: Inertia, Mechanical Advantage, Light, Heat, Magnetism, Optics, Electricity, and related topics served to explain our world and how and why the things in it work a certain way. Mr. Franklin had very little Physics  lab equipment to work with but he always held our attention. One day an upperclassman was handling a mercury filled thermometer and it broke in her hand. Some of the mercury hit her class ring and in just a matter of seconds, the heretofore invisible weld on the ring disintegrated. Today, the HazMat teams from a dozen agencies would show up for an event like this!


Perhaps the main reason Mr. Franklin was a real life changer was his genuine interest in my out of class hobbies: Space, astronomy, and amateur radio. (My first duty assignment, after being commissioned at Purdue University in 1963,  was in Research and Development of our ICBM's  Name Dropping Time: Among other duties, I served with  an independently wealthy officer, who served because of his love flying-- Major Francis MacKinsey , and together we were speech writers for General Sam Phillips. Few Americans are aware that he took over the Apollo moon landing program  from a political appointed civilian administrator who had the program way behind schedule. General Phillips, like the Cable Guy, was a hard-nosed advocate of "Get-R-Done!" All Americans celebrated the moon landing in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface. General Phillips has never received the credit that he rightly deserves for his leadership in making the goal of our late President Kennedy a reality.  While teaching in the Aerospace Studies Department ( AFROTC) at the University of Kentucky, I was responsible for the annual commissioning of our graduating new second lieutenants. I invited Neil Armstrong, who was then the Chairman of the University of Cincinnati Engineering School, to serve as our main speaker at one our commissioning services. He politely responded and said he had long ago decided not to accept outside speaking engagements. Later, I served in an assignment with Astronaut Colonel John Blaha who would later serve as Commander of several Space Shuttle missions and John spent time aboard the International Space Station.)


In addition, today, I have a modest 8 inch Newtonian reflecting telescope as well as a small refracting telescope for studying the Oklahoma night skies. My ham call sign is KE5GK . It is not a stretch to credit Mr. Franklin for his teaching and encouragement in helping me realize many of my Paris Crossing High School dreams.


I warned you:; I still struggle with Pride!