engineering

James R. Wait

James R. Wait is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James R. Wait rather than just read about it. In short: James R. Wait was a Canadian electrical engineer and engineering physicist.

Key takeaways

James R. Wait belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James R. Wait to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James R. Wait from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James R. Wait was a Canadian electrical engineer and engineering physicist. In 1977, he was elected as a member of National Academy of Engineering in Electronics, Communication & Information Systems Engineering for his contributions to electromagnetic propagation engineering as it affects communication and geophysical exploration.

Biography Wait was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on January 23, 1924, received his BS (1948) and MS (1949) in engineering physics and his PhD (1951) in electrical engineering, all from the University of Toronto. Between 1948 and 1951, he worked for Newmont Exploration in Jerome, Arizona, where his research led to several patents in both IP and EM methods of geophysical prospecting. After a brief stint with the Defense Research Communications establishment in Ottawa, Wait first joined the National Bureau of Standards in Boulder, Colorado, and then NOAA; at each, he concentrated predominantly on theoretical aspects of radio-wave propagation. Gertrude L Norman was his spouse, married in 1951 in Jerome AZ, deceased in 2010, Tucson, AZ. He had two Children, Laura H Wait, born 1954 in Ottawa Canada. She is a well known artist, living in Santa Fe. NM. Jim's son George, born in Boulder, CO in 1956, died in 2010 in Tucson, AZ. George had two children James and Carolyn. Jim has two great grandchildren. He held numerous teaching and visiting scientist research positions at various prestigious universities and research establishments all over the world. In 1980, he was appointed professor of electrical engineering and geosciences at the University of Arizona in Tucson and in 1988 became one of the prestigious Regents' Professors. He died October 1, 1998, at his home in Tucson.

Publications Some representative of Prof. Wait's crucial journal publications

In IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation

Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium

In IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques

In IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing

In IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility

In the Proceedings of Institution of Electrical Engineers / IEEE

In Electronics Letters

In India, IEE-IERE Proceedings

In IEEE Transactions on Communications

In IEEE Transactions on Communication Technology 1971 Subsurface Electromagnetic Telecommunication—A Review In IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting 1974 Comments on "Transmission of Circular Polarized Waves Between Elevated Antenna" In IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 1977 Propagation of ELF electromagnetic waves and project sanguine/seafarer In IEEE International Conference on Engineering in the Ocean Environment, Ocean 72 1972 The sanguine concept In International Conference on Mathematical Methods in Electromagnetic Theory, 1998. MMET 98. 1998 1998 VLF scattering from red sprites: vertical columns of ionisation in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide In IRE Transactions on Communications Systems 1958 Transmission Loss Curves for Propagation at Very Low Radio Frequencies In IEEE Transactions on Education 1970 A Pitfall in the Scalar Electromagnetic Formulation of Kirchhoff Theory In Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 1954 Reflection from a mirror surface with an absorbent coating In Applied Scientific Research B 1954 Reflection at arbitrary incidence from a parallel wire grid, 4, pp. 393–400. In Canadian Journal of Physics 1955, Scattering of a plane wave from a circular dielectric cylinder at oblique incidence, 33, pp. 189–195. In Transactions of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers 1949 Detection of Overheated Transmission Line Joints by Means of a Bolometer

Wait's books JR Wait, Electromagnetic Waves in Stratified Media. 1962, Pergamon Press. JR Wait, Electromagnetic wave theory. 1985, Harper & Row New York. JR Wait, Geo-electromagnetism. 1982, Academic Press New York, NY. JR Wait, Wave Propagation Theory. 1981, New York: Pergamon. JR Wait, Electromagnetics and plasmas. 1968, Holt, Rinehart and Winston New York. JR Wait, Electromagnetic Radiation from Cylindrical Structures. 1959, Pergamon Press.

Patents James R. Wait, Method of geophysical exploration, U.S. patent 2,735,980. June 1956. (Newmont Mining Corporation)

See also List of members of the National Academy of Engineering (Electronics) IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal Atmospheric electricity Earth's magnetic field

References

External articles Recipients of the IEEE Heinrich Hertz Medal, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James R. Wait

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James R. Wait claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James R. Wait before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James R. Wait ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James R. Wait

In research: James R. Wait appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James R. Wait in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James R. Wait is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1924 births, 1998 deaths, 20th-century Canadian engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James R. Wait outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James R. Wait in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James R. Wait means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James R. Wait out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James R. Wait in simple terms?

James R. Wait was a Canadian electrical engineer and engineering physicist.

Why does James R. Wait matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James R. Wait?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James R. Wait.