View source for Biography:Winston H. Bostick

{{short description|American physicist}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Winston H. Bostick
| image             = 
| image_size        = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1916|3|5}}
| birth_place       = Freeport, Illinois, US
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1991|1|19|1916|3|5}}
| death_place       = Tijuana, Mexico
| field             = [[Physicist]] 
| work_institution  = [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]<br>[[Organization:Tufts University|Tufts University]]<br>[[Organization:Los Alamos National Laboratory|Los Alamos National Laboratory]]<br>Lawrence Livermore Laboratory<br>[[Organization:Stevens Institute of Technology|Stevens Institute of Technology]]
| alma_mater        = [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]]
| doctoral_advisor  = [[Biography:Arthur Compton|Arthur Compton]]
| known_for         = [[Astronomy:Plasmoid|plasmoid]]s<br>plasma focus<br>[[Physics:Magnetic|Magnetic]] explanation of Hubble expansion
}}

'''Winston H. Bostick''' (March 5, 1916 – January 19, 1991) was an American [[Physicist|physicist]] who discovered [[Astronomy:Plasmoid|plasmoid]]s, plasma focus, and [[Physics:Plasma|plasma]] [[Vortex|vortex]] phenomena. He simulated cosmical [[Physics:Astrophysics|astrophysics]] with laboratory [[Physics:Plasma|plasma]] experiments, and showed that Hubble expansion can be produced with repulsive mutual induction between neighboring [[Astronomy:Galaxy|galaxies]] acting as [[Engineering:Homopolar generator|homopolar generator]]s. His work on plasmas was claimed to be evidence for finite-sized [[Physics:Elementary particle|elementary particle]]s and the composition of [[Physics:String theory|strings]], but this is not accepted by mainstream science.

==Biography==
Winston H. Bostick, born in Freeport, Illinois, received both his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the [[Organization:University of Chicago|University of Chicago]]. His Ph.D. thesis on [[Astronomy:Cosmic ray|cosmic ray]]s was completed under the direction of Nobel laureate [[Biography:Arthur Compton|Arthur Compton]]. While working at the [[Organization:Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]] Radiation Laboratory from 1941 to 1948, he helped build a [[Physics:Microwave|microwave]] [[Physics:Linear particle accelerator|linear electron accelerator]]. As an associate professor of [[Organization:Tufts University|Tufts University]] from 1948 to 1954, he researched magnetic pinch effects, which led to his later work on [[Physics:Pinch (plasma physics)|plasma pinch]] effects. His discoveries of [[Astronomy:Plasmoid|plasmoid]]s and other plasma-related effects began between 1954 and 1956 at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, where he continued to act as consultant. A 1956 ''{{wipe|The New York Times}}'' front page story featured Bostick's "[[Physics:Plasma weapon|plasma gun]]".<ref>William L. Laurence, "[https://www.nytimes.com/1956/12/12/archives/physicist-creates-universe-in-a-test-tube-atom-gun-produces.html Physicist 'Creates' Universe in a Test Tube; Atom Gun Produces Galaxies and Gives Clues to Creation Cosmos 'Created' in a Test Tube]", ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, December 12, 1956.</ref><ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/1957/02/03/archives/physicists-depict-new-concepts-of-universe-and-its-basic-laws.html Physicists Depict New Concepts Of Universe and Its Basic Laws]", ''The New York Times'', Sunday, February 3, 1957.</ref> He served as professor of physics at the [[Organization:Stevens Institute of Technology|Stevens Institute of Technology]] from 1956 until receiving professor emeritus status at his retirement in 1981, and as head of the physics department from 1968. While visiting Tijuana, Mexico, in 1991, he died of lung cancer at age 74.<ref>"[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE3DB1131F936A15752C0A967958260 Dr. Winston Bostick, Atomic Physicist, 74]", ''The New York Times'', Friday, January 25, 1991.</ref>

==Scientific contributions==
In 1956 Bostick demonstrated the existence of "[[Astronomy:Plasmoid|plasmoid]]s", [[Physics:Mechanical equilibrium|force-free]], [[Physics:Charge|charge]]-carrying "strings".<ref>Winston H. Bostick, "[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-bib_query?bibcode=1956PhRv..104..292B&amp;db_key=PHY&amp;data_type=HTML&amp;format= Experimental Study of Ionized Matter Projected across a Magnetic Field]", ''[http://prola.aps.org/abstract/PR/v104/i2/p292_1 Physical Review]'', V104, N2, pp. 292-299 (Oct 1956).</ref> Ten years later he postulated an [[Physics:Electron|electron]] composed of [[Helix|helical]] plasmoids forming [[Vortex|vortex]] "[[Physics:Circuit theory|loops]]" around a "[[Toroid|ring]]", similar to the Parson Magneton.<ref>Winston H. Bostick, "Pair Production of Plasma Vortices", ''[http://scitation.aip.org/vsearch/servlet/VerityServlet?KEY=PHFLE6&ONLINE=YES&smode=strresults&sort=chron&maxdisp=25&threshold=0&possible1zone=article&possible4=bostick&possible4zone=author&bool4=and&OUTLOG=NO&viewabs=PFLDAS&key=DISPLAY&docID=2&page=1&chapter=0 Physics of Fluids]'', V9, N10, pp. 2078-2080 (Oct 1966).</ref> Bostick maintained that this model could account for atomic structure, [[Physics:Strong interaction|strong]] and [[Physics:Weak interaction|weak forces]] within the [[Physics:Atomic nucleus|nucleus]], and that it was a physical basis for [[Physics:String theory|string theory]], but this view received no support from the mainstream scientific community and is considered [[Fringe science|fringe science]].{{By whom?|date=May 2020}} {{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.plasma-universe.com/index.php/Winston_H._Bostick Winston H. Bostick - Plasma Universe]
*[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-abs_connect?db_key=AST&db_key=PHY&qform=AST&sim_query=YES&ned_query=YES&aut_logic=OR&obj_logic=OR&author=bostick%2C+w+h&object=&start_mon=&start_year=&end_mon=&end_year=&ttl_logic=OR&title=&txt_logic=OR&text=&nr_to_return=100&start_nr=1&jou_pick=ALL&ref_stems=&data_and=ALL&gif_link=YES&group_and=ALL&start_entry_day=&start_entry_mon=&start_entry_year=&end_entry_day=&end_entry_mon=&end_entry_year=&min_score=&sort=SCORE&data_type=SHORT&aut_syn=YES&ttl_syn=YES&txt_syn=YES&aut_wt=1.0&obj_wt=1.0&ttl_wt=0.3&txt_wt=3.0&aut_wgt=YES&obj_wgt=YES&ttl_wgt=YES&txt_wgt=YES&ttl_sco=YES&txt_sco=YES&version=1 Winston H. Bostick - Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS) Database]


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[[Category:Particle physicists]]
[[Category:Quantum physicists]]
[[Category:Theoretical physicists]]

{{Sourceattribution|Winston H. Bostick}}