Forrest M. Mims III

Fellow, Center for Science and Culture

Forrest M. Mims III is an instrument designer, science writer and independent science consultant. He has made regular observations of the ozone layer, solar ultraviolet radiation, photosynthetic radiation, column water vapor and aerosol optical thickness since 1989 at his Geronimo Creek Observatory in Texas. He cofounded MITS Inc., the company that introduced the first personal computer, and Science Probe magazine, which he edited.

Mims' columns have appeared in Scientific American, Popular Electronics, Computers & Electronics, Modern Electronics, Computercraft, Science Probe and The Citizen Scientist. His scientific publications have appeared in Nature, Science, Photochemistry and Photobiology, The Journal of Molecular Evolution, Geophysical Research Letters, Journal of Geophysical Research, Applied Optics, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, EOS, Journal of the American Foundation for the Blind and other peer-reviewed journals. His general publications have appeared in more than 70 magazines and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harper's, Philadelphia Inquirer, Science Digest, Popular Photography and National Geographic World. Mims has also published over 60 books with publishers including McGraw-Hill, Prentice-Hall, David McKay, Osborne-McGraw-Hill, Tab, Radio Shack, Master Publishing, Sams and Consumer Guide. His Radio Shack books have sold 7.5 million copies. His book on the 50th anniversary of Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory will be published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2008.

Mims, who served as an intelligence officer and engineer in the U.S. Air Force, has been a consultant for GLOBE, National Science Teacher's Association, TERC, the Concord Consortium and RadioShack. He was co-principal investigator of the GLOBE program's haze project (1998-2006). He studied the effect of biomass burning on the atmosphere for NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Brazil in 1995 and 1997 and in the Western U.S. in 1996. He currently serves as a consultant for NASA's Langley Research Center and is editor of The Citizen Scientist (2004 to present). Mims is also the site operator for the United States Department of Agriculture UV-B monitoring site at Texas Lutheran University, a position he has held since 2004. Mims is the past chair and present vice-chair of the Environmental Science Section of the Texas Academy of Science (2004 to present), and has represented Guadalupe County, Texas, on two government air quality committees in South Texas since 2003.

Mims is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Rolex Award for Enterprise (1987) alternate and 1993 (laureate). He received the Industrial Research IR-100 Award for inventing a miniature eyeglass-mounted travel aid for the blind. He is currently expanding his regular atmospheric measurements to include studies of airborne bacteria, mosquito visual response and tannin distribution in annual growth rings of Taxodium distichum (baldcypress). His scientific pursuits, science data and publications can be viewed online at www.forrestmims.org.

Archives

My Atmospheric Science Adventures at Mauna Loa Observatory

Most people know Hawaii is famous for its beaches. But did you know it’s also home to one of the world’s leading stations for monitoring the atmosphere? On this ID The Future, self-taught citizen scientist Forrest Mims talks to host Andrew McDiarmid about the history and significance of the world-famous Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii. He also shares some of his own experiences and adventures there over the last quarter century. In this episode, Mims reminds us of his dust-up with Scientific American, a controversy that would ultimately launch his career as an atmospheric scientist. He introduces us to some of the pioneering explorers and scientists who set the stage for atmospheric science in Hawaii, including Archibald Menzies, Charles Wilkes, and Robert Simpson. Mims

Forrest Mims on Winning the Rolex Award (And How You Can Too!)

Rolex is well-known the world over for crafting high-quality, innovative time-pieces. But did you know they also award funds to people with innovative ideas in science and technology? On this ID The Future, Texan engineer, writer, and self-taught scientist Forrest M. Mims recounts his experience of winning a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 1993 for his innovative proposal to track the ozone layer through a worldwide ground-based network that utilized his own homemade ozone instruments. Mims discusses the work that led to the honor, the memorable trip to Switzerland to collect the award, and how the Rolex Award propelled his career in science.

Twilight Science: Forrest Mims Unlocks the Secrets of the Atmosphere

Many of us have enjoyed a colorful twilight or a stunning sunset. But how often do we think about the science behind these memorable conditions? Forrest Mims has been measuring the Earth's atmosphere for more than 30 years. On this episode of ID The Future, Mims shares with us some of the secrets he's learned from his long-term research. Mims has forged a distinguished scientific career despite having no academic training in science. He is an instrument designer, science writer, and independent science consultant. Mims has published over 60 books, including his latest: Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist.

Maverick Scientist

My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist
Maverick Scientist is the memoir of Forrest Mims, who forged a distinguished scientific career despite having no academic training in science. Named one of the “50 Best Brains in Science” by Discover magazine, Forrest shares what sparked his childhood curiosity and relates a lifetime of improbable, dramatic, and occasionally outright dangerous experiences in the world of science.  At thirteen he invented a new method of rocket control. At seventeen he designed and built an analog computer that could translate Russian into English and that the Smithsonian collected as an example of an early hobby computer. While majoring in government at Texas A&M University, Forrest created a hand-held, radar-like device to help guide the blind. And during his military service, he had

Enjoy an Exclusive Reading From Maverick Scientist

Curiosity can lead to unexpected adventures. For self-taught scientist Forrest Mims, it inspired a successful career in science and technology. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid reads an exclusive excerpt from Mims’s new memoir Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist. Also: don't miss our two-part interview with Forrest Mims about his memoir!

My Adventures As an Amateur Scientist

Can a successful scientist be self-taught? On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid concludes his conversation with Forrest M. Mims about his new memoir Maverick Scientist: My Adventures as an Amateur Scientist. Without a college science degree, Mims taught himself the fundamentals of engineering and atmospheric science that fueled an impressive career in science and technology. Listen as he shares more stories from an inspiring career! This interview is also available in video form. See the Discovery Science YouTube channel for links.

Forrest Mims: The Making of a Maverick Scientist

What does it take to be a scientist? For Forrest Mims, the answer is simple: you just have to do science. On this ID The Future, host Andrew McDiarmid begins a two-part conversation with a man who has forged an impressive scientific career on curiosity, determination, and a lot of hard work. In the first of a two-part interview, Mims discusses his coming of age in the silicon era, sharing some of his many exploits as a young inventor and amateur scientist. Mims's new memoir Maverick Scientist is now available. More at idthefuture.com.