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Hacker News Hacker NewsThe dissolved oxygen sensor (the Clark electrode) was invented by Dr. Lee Clark at Antioch University (Yellow Springs, OH) and commercialized by YSI in the 1960s. A friend of mine worked at YSI from the late 60s thru the 80s on biosensors (glucose and lactic acid, using the Clark electrode as the basis) and worked directly with Dr. Clark.
Carl Feynman was born in 1962, according to what I'm reading, so if he was 14 that would have put this story in the time period early in the commercialization of these sensors.
Some good background:
https://derangedphysiology.com/main/cicm-primary-exam/respir...
https://www.anaestheasier.com/the-clark-electrode/
I'll have to hit my friend up to see if he knows anything about this. I'm certain he'd get a kick out of reading this, if nothing else.
Just think of a thermometer.
If it removes heat as it measures it (consumes oxygen) then it will measure everything too cold if the system can't replace the heat that's removed (this is like having an insulated thermometer).
If your thermometer replaces heat as it removes it it solves this issue.
When is this an issue for a thermometer? If your thermometer is too large in terms of heat capacity for the objects you're measuring the temperature of.
Feynman's sensor, by contrast, directly measured the concentration of oxygen in the sensor, which gives the same result every time once the sensor is at equilibrium with the environment.
That hits a bit close to home!
> Do you have a similar speaking cadence as your dad? I can almost hear this in his voice.
I experience the same. Wonder if Carl asked chatGPT to write it in Richard Feynman style? :/
I troll; Regardless, it made me happy to hear Richard in Carl.