of 194 ozone measurements by Microtops II and
Dobson 83 differed by only 1.9%.
While I continue to make regular
measurements of the sun’s irradiance, haze, and
the total water vapor and ozone columns, my
most exciting project is twilight photometry. My
ultra-simple twilight instruments have twice been
described in Make: and will soon be published in a
scientific journal.
You can learn much more about my career
as an amateur scientist, including my research
for NASA during two Brazil campaigns, at
www.forrestmims.org. The 30-year paper
demonstrates the importance of persistence in
doing long-term environmental research. On
February 5, 2022, my sun and sky measurements
reached 32 years and exceeded the longest
series of column water vapor and optical depth
measurements since the Smithsonian’s at Table
Mountain, California, from 1926 to 1957. (They
also found no trend in total water vapor.) My goal
is 50 years — if I live to 95.
YOU CAN DO THIS
I close with a challenge: Every issue of this
remarkable magazine includes amazing
projects by highly creative individuals who may
be more equipped to do science than they realize.
Besides making discoveries, doing science can
be a fascinating hobby. I hope you will join me
in doing science, even if you lack a science or
engineering education.
SIX HABITS OF A
HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL
DIY SCIENTIST
I’ve been fortunate to work with Forrest
Mims for 15 years editing his column in
Make:. Not only has he taught electronics
to generations of beginners, he’s made
a name for himself as an atmospheric
scientist too. In this overview of his career
I recognize many of the habits of work, and
of mind, that contributed to his success:
• Follow your imagination. (ram air
control for rockets, seeing with sound)
• Pursue novel theories to see where
they lead. (pots can be memory devices,
LEDs can be sensors)
• Investigate practical uses of your
discoveries. (IR rangefinder travel
aid, rocket tracking lights, fiber optic
communications)
• Need an instrument that doesn’t exist?
Make it! (TOPS ozone spectrometer,
LED photometers)
• Persist despite the skeptics. (Scientific
American)
• Diligently collect data, rain or shine.
(32-year series, and counting!)
These are some of the steps Forrest
followed to become an extraordinary
amateur scientist, and you can too. Read
more from Forrest online at makezine.
com/author/forrest-m-mims-iii, in
back issues of Make: (makershed.com/
collections/back-issues), and in his book
Make: Forrest Mims’ Science Experiments.
And don’t miss our DIY Science book series
with illustrated guides to home chemistry,
biology, astronomy, and forensic science,
all available at makershed.com/books.
—Keith Hammond
107
make.co
G
Gretchen Roth
Forrest Mims takes a break from calibrating Dobson 83
during a 64-day stay at MLO in 2016.
M81_102-7_AmSci_F1.indd 107M81_102-7_AmSci_F1.indd 107 4/12/22 12:44 PM4/12/22 12:44 PM
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