Robert S Fritzius: Difference between revisions

Robert S. Fritzius
Robert S. Fritzius
Born	October 7, 1939 (age 86); Blytheville, Arkansas, United States
Residence	Starkville, Mississippi, United States
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Purdue University
Known for	Emission Theory, Walter Ritz, Astronomy, Gamma Ray Bursters, Pulsars, Quasars, Time, Newtonian Physics, Electrodynamics
	Scientific career
Fields	Electrical Engineer

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Latest revision as of 20:59, 20 July 2026

Robert Stephen Fritzius (born October 7, 1939) is an American electrical engineer, retired U.S. Navy officer, and independent researcher known for his efforts to revive scientific interest in the 1908 electrodynamics of the Swiss mathematical physicist Walther Ritz. Through his website Shade Tree Physics, Fritzius publishes his own alternative interpretations of physics, astronomy, and cosmology, with an emphasis on a Newtonian, emission-based account of electrodynamics that lies outside the mainstream of modern physics.

Biography

Fritzius was born on October 7, 1939, in Blytheville, Arkansas, and was reared in Missouri. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1958 and trained as an electronics technician, working on shipboard radar, communications, and sonar equipment and later on tactical airborne navigation (TACAN) systems.

From 1962 to 1966 he studied electrical engineering at Purdue University under the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program, having been promoted to Chief Electronics Technician in 1965. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue in 1966, was commissioned as an officer, and completed naval aviation training, being designated a Naval Aviator in 1967.

During the remainder of his naval career Fritzius served in electronic warfare, communications engineering, and airborne systems evaluation roles, including duty as a communications engineer with the Defense Communications Agency in Saigon (1970–1971), an electronic warfare division officer at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu (1971–1973), and an electronic warfare troubleshooter at the Air Force Electronic Warfare Center, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (1975–1977), where he co-designed radio-frequency jamming tests for the Global Positioning System (GPS). He retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant, USNR, in 1978.

After leaving the Navy, Fritzius pursued a varied civilian career centered in Mississippi. He studied mechanical engineering and Palestinian archaeology, taking part in the 1980 excavations at Halutza (Elusa) in the Negev of Israel. He worked as a BASIC computer programmer on insect pest management and other projects at Mississippi State University in the early 1980s, and from 1989 to 1993 he was a research assistant in mosquito research in the university's Department of Entomology, where he applied starch-gel electrophoresis and neural-network software to species identification. From 1994 to 2001 he was a telecommunications specialist at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, retiring in December 2001. From 2013 to 2017 he served as Wing Historian for the Mississippi Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.

Scientific contributions

Fritzius describes himself as an amateur, or "shade tree," physicist, and his work is presented outside the framework of mainstream physics. He traces his interest in the subject to his undergraduate years, when dissatisfaction with conventional explanations of magnetism led him to attempt to construct his own model of electricity and gravitation, including a version of push (or "shadow") gravity.

His central project has been the promotion and interpretation of the ballistic, or emission, theory of light and electrodynamics originally advanced by Walther Ritz in 1908. In Ritz's emission theory, electric charges are held to emit force-carrying particles whose collisions with other charges produce observable electrical effects, and light is emitted at a constant speed relative to its source rather than relative to an absolute frame. Ritz was a contemporary and critic of Albert Einstein on questions of relativity, but he died young in 1909 before developing his ideas fully. Fritzius, an admirer of Ritz, arranged for Ritz's French-language writings to be translated into English and made them available online.

Building on Ritz's framework, Fritzius developed what he calls Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics, in which charges emit, absorb, and scatter hypothetical sub-quantum particles. He has applied Ritzian and emission-theory ideas to a range of astronomical and cosmological topics, including variable stars, Cepheids, quasars, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and a proposed "variable electric charge" origin for the cosmological redshift as an alternative to metric expansion of the universe. These proposals are not accepted within mainstream astrophysics and cosmology.

His broader research interests have included archaeology, astronomy, gamma-ray bursts, Venusian astrobiology, time, and the catastrophism of Immanuel Velikovsky.

Honors

Fritzius has been an associate member of the American Astronomical Society and, since 2004, of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). He served as Chairman of the Physics and Engineering Division of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences (2004–2005), was a member of the Rainwater Astronomical Society in French Camp, Mississippi, and participated in NASA's Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) from 2007 to 2008.

Abstracts

2008 - "Interpreting SN 2006gy from a Modified Ritzian Viewpoint" (Read in full)
2005 - "Adriaan van Maanen's Challenge to the Expanding Universe"
1999 - "Cepheids. It gets worse!" (Read in full)
1999 - "A Ritzian Interpretation of Variable Stars " (Read in full)
1998 - "Commentary on Ritz's Electrodynamics" (Read in full)
1996 - "The Possibility that QSOs are Non-Cosmological in Origin"
1995 - "Galilean Relativity and Spectroscopy: Binary Brightness / Velocity Curves"
1994 - "The SRT, Quantum Mechanical Unstable States, and Cosmology"
1994 - "Variable Electrical Charge Cosmological Redshift"
1993 - "Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics" (Read in full)
1990 - "The Ritz-Einstein Agreement to Disagree" (Read in full)
1988 - "Cosmological Redshift: Long Term Electrical Charge Variations May Account for Cosmological Redshift"

Media

2009 - Walther Ritz, Emission Theory and the Real World (Video Lecture)

External links

Shade Tree Physics — Fritzius's personal website
Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics
English translation of Walther Ritz's 1908 electrodynamics

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | image = Robert S Fritzius 44.jpg
 | alt = Robert S. Fritzius
-| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|10|07|mf=y}}
+| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|10|7}}
+| birth_place = Blytheville, Arkansas, United States
+| residence = Starkville, Mississippi, United States
+| nationality = American
 | fields = [[Electrical Engineer]]
-| residence = Starkville, MS, United States
+| alma_mater = Purdue University
-| nationality = USA
+| known_for = [[Emission Theory]], [[Walter Ritz]], [[Astronomy]], [[Gamma Ray Bursters]], [[Pulsars]], [[Quasars]], [[Time]], [[Newtonian Physics]], [[Electrodynamics]]
-| known_for = [[Emission Theory]], [[Astronomy]], [[Gamma Ray Bursters]], [[Pulsars]], [[Quasars]], [[Time]], [[Newtonian Physics]], [[Electrodynamics]], [[Walter Ritz]]
 }}
-The most important thing I learned back in high school is that vacuums don't "suck." You can use mechanical devices to push air out of a given volume of space, which results in a decrease in pressure there. If there is another pathway to the evacuated region then outside air pressure can push more air into it. The air is not pulled in by the so-called vacuum. That information has remained resident in my memory ever since, and no doubt has had an influence on my particular version of push gravity. (It gets invented anew about every 20 years. In 1972 it was my turn.)</p>   I did 20 years in the U.S. Navy, starting off as an electronics technician. On day one of our electronics training a chief told us "All right men, we're here to teach you the <em>what</em> and the <em>how</em> of electronics, (what it is and how to fix things). We are not here to teach you the "<em>why</em>" of electronics. You go to college to get that.
+'''Robert Stephen Fritzius''' (born October 7, 1939) is an American electrical engineer, retired U.S. Navy officer, and independent researcher known for his efforts to revive scientific interest in the 1908 [[emission theory|electrodynamics]] of the Swiss mathematical physicist [[Walter Ritz|Walther Ritz]]. Through his website ''Shade Tree Physics'', Fritzius publishes his own alternative interpretations of physics, astronomy, and cosmology, with an emphasis on a Newtonian, emission-based account of electrodynamics that lies outside the mainstream of modern physics.
-Four years later I was studying electrical engineering at Purdue University, courtesy of the U.S. Navy. While there we had a number of classes in physics. In one of them, (sophomore level, I think) one lecture was an introduction to magnetism; north pole, south pole, attract, repel, torque, kind of stuff. When the lecture was over I had missed something. After getting permission to speak, I apologized for doping off or not paying attention the asked the Prof, "Would you please go back over that part about "why" magnets do what they do?' His answer, was "Huh! If I knew that, I wouldn't be here!" - - - - I was devastated!
+==Biography==
+Fritzius was born on October 7, 1939, in Blytheville, Arkansas, and was reared in Missouri. He enlisted in the United States Navy in 1958 and trained as an electronics technician, working on shipboard radar, communications, and sonar equipment and later on tactical airborne navigation (TACAN) systems.
-I didn't sound out any other professors on the topic, but based on the tone of my Prof's answer, I figured out how the inquiry would turn out.
+From 1962 to 1966 he studied electrical engineering at Purdue University under the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program, having been promoted to Chief Electronics Technician in 1965. He received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue in 1966, was commissioned as an officer, and completed naval aviation training, being designated a Naval Aviator in 1967.
-I resolved, then and there to "cook up" a theory of how electricity works that would at least fool me on the topic of how magnets work. I finally got there (or at least to an intermediate level) and even though my model is not what I want it to be, I think it is on the right track. My Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics [http://www.shadetreephysics.com/eas.htm http://www.shadetreephysics.com/eas.htm] contains the backbone of the theory. (The magnet business is not written up yet.)
+During the remainder of his naval career Fritzius served in electronic warfare, communications engineering, and airborne systems evaluation roles, including duty as a communications engineer with the Defense Communications Agency in Saigon (1970–1971), an electronic warfare division officer at the Naval Missile Center, Point Mugu (1971–1973), and an electronic warfare troubleshooter at the Air Force Electronic Warfare Center, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas (1975–1977), where he co-designed radio-frequency jamming tests for the Global Positioning System (GPS). He retired from the Navy as a Lieutenant, USNR, in 1978.
-In 1972, Dr. Robert Forward, of Oxnard California, (To me he was the "gravity doctor.") kindly heard me out on my version of what's going on with electricity (including it's <em>push gravity</em> aspect. In my presentation I included the issue of the electrical currents "pinch effect" which goes back to how magnets work. Forward said, "I'm glad you covered the pinch effect because any theory of electricity that doesn't address that issue is not worth the time of day.
+After leaving the Navy, Fritzius pursued a varied civilian career centered in Mississippi. He studied mechanical engineering and Palestinian archaeology, taking part in the 1980 excavations at Halutza (Elusa) in the Negev of Israel. He worked as a BASIC computer programmer on insect pest management and other projects at Mississippi State University in the early 1980s, and from 1989 to 1993 he was a research assistant in mosquito research in the university's Department of Entomology, where he applied starch-gel electrophoresis and neural-network software to species identification. From 1994 to 2001 he was a telecommunications specialist at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, retiring in December 2001. From 2013 to 2017 he served as Wing Historian for the Mississippi Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.
-In those days, my emission particles (one for each kind of charge) were just called "stuff" and brand X stuff. They were emitted and absorbed but "scattering" had not been added to the mix yet.
+==Scientific contributions==
+Fritzius describes himself as an amateur, or "shade tree," physicist, and his work is presented outside the framework of mainstream physics. He traces his interest in the subject to his undergraduate years, when dissatisfaction with conventional explanations of magnetism led him to attempt to construct his own model of electricity and gravitation, including a version of push (or "shadow") gravity.
-Forward said that my model was a lot like that of Walter Ritz, who is known as the big daddy of what we call "emission theory". (Charges emit force carrying particles which, as a result of their colliding with other charged bodies produce the observable electrical effects.)
+His central project has been the promotion and interpretation of the ballistic, or emission, theory of light and electrodynamics originally advanced by Walther Ritz in 1908. In Ritz's emission theory, electric charges are held to emit force-carrying particles whose collisions with other charges produce observable electrical effects, and light is emitted at a constant speed relative to its source rather than relative to an absolute frame. Ritz was a contemporary and critic of [[Albert Einstein]] on questions of relativity, but he died young in 1909 before developing his ideas fully. Fritzius, an admirer of Ritz, arranged for Ritz's French-language writings to be translated into English and made them available online.
-There were things in Physics that I didn't know how to say. I figured that if I got this Ritz guy's work, I could take a short cut to where I wanted to be. Little problem, Ritz's work was in French! I had two different people translate Ritz independently and I put in the English smoothing (striving to not put words into Ritz's mouth). The translation is online now at [http://www.shadetreephysics.com/crit/1908a.htm http://www.shadetreephysics.com/crit/1908a.htm]
+Building on Ritz's framework, Fritzius developed what he calls Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics, in which charges emit, absorb, and scatter hypothetical sub-quantum particles. He has applied Ritzian and emission-theory ideas to a range of astronomical and cosmological topics, including variable stars, Cepheids, quasars, pulsars, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, and a proposed "variable electric charge" origin for the cosmological redshift as an alternative to metric expansion of the universe. These proposals are not accepted within mainstream astrophysics and cosmology.
-It turns out that Ritz was Einstein's (or at least what is popularly considered to be Einstein's theory)biggest competitor regarding relativity theory, but Ritz died young and didn't get to work all the kinks out of his model. It should be obvious that I'm a Ritz fan, and that my "flailings" on electrodynamics are spring boarded from Ritz.
+His broader research interests have included archaeology, astronomy, gamma-ray bursts, Venusian astrobiology, time, and the catastrophism of [[Immanuel Velikovsky]].
-<b>Personal</b>
+==Honors==
+Fritzius has been an associate member of the American Astronomical Society and, since 2004, of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR). He served as Chairman of the Physics and Engineering Division of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences (2004–2005), was a member of the Rainwater Astronomical Society in French Camp, Mississippi, and participated in NASA's Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) from 2007 to 2008.
-* Born, October 7, 1939, Blytheville Arkansas. Reared in Missouri.
-* B.S. Electrical Engineering, Purdue (1966)
-* Interests: computer programming (BASIC), Art (stipple, oils, pastel), choral performance, travel.
-<b>Areas of Research</b>
-Archaeology, astronomy, gamma ray bursts, grand synthesis, Venusian astrobiology, variable electric charge cosmological redshift, pulsars, quasars, time, Ritz's electrodynamics, Velikovsky's catastrophism.
-<b>Societies and Associations</b>
-* American Astronomical Society (AAS) - Associate Member
-* Mississippi Academy of Sciences - Chairman, Physics and Engineering Division (2004-2005)
-* Rainwater Astronomical Society - French Camp, Mississippi
-* Committe on Space Research (COSPAR) - Associate Member since 2004
-* NASA sponsored Venus Exploration Analysis Group (VEXAG) (2007-2008)
-'''Currently ongoing studies/projects'''
-- 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, A NEO Connection? 2005 - Messier 33 Internal Motions
-- GRB 990510 and a Solar Wind Problem
-- Influenza 1918, A Venus Connection? Employment History
-- 2001 (Retired in Dec 2001.)
-- 2001 - Telecommunications Specialist (Personal Wireless Communications Systems Manager and Installation Radio Frequency Spectrum Manager) at Columbus Air Force Base, Columbus, MS.
--1993 - Research Assistant in Mosquito Research, working in a statewide ecological survey and an insecticide resistance study on Anopheles quadrimaculatus and related mosquitoes in Mississippi. Used starch gel electrophoresis for species identification. Wrote and used Artificial Intelligence (neural net) software to assist in the identifications. Department of Entomology, Mississippi State University.
--1987 - Designed and built prototype Ventriloquist voice-activated radio-controlled skeet and trap launch triggering systems for the Computer Learning Works, LLC, at Starkville, Mississippi. Details on third generation models are available at: Ventriloquistinc.com
--1985 - Computer programmer in BASIC in areas of Lumber Yard Product Tracking, Computer Aided Instruction, HVAC Energy Management, and Business Systems Data Base Translations. Performed CP/M to MS-DOS, Commodore to Apple II, and Commodore to IBM-PC inter-platform porting of BASIC software packages.
--1983 - Worked as computer programmer (prototype GIS software in BASIC) in Insect Pest Management for Cooperative Extension Service, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS.
--1981 - Participated in 1980 excavations at Halutza (Elusa) in the northern Negev of Israel and illustrated a monograph on Cathedrals of the Negev.
--1980 - Studied mechanical engineering and Palestinian archaeology. Debugged FORTRAN software and conducted data analysis using the software for statewide public schools energy audits. Mississippi State University.
-Feb 1978 - Retired from Navy as Lieutenant USNR.
--1977 - Electronic Warfare troubleshooter, including Satellite Communications Systems. Co-designer of radio frequency Jamming tests for Global Positioning System (GPS). Air Force Electronic Warfare Center, Kelly Air Force Base, TX.
--1975 - Officer-In-Charge - Intermediate Avionics Maintenance, and Special Configurations Officer. Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ1), Naval Air Station, Agana, Guam.
--1973 - Electronic Warfare Division Officer. Designed and Conducted Link 4A Air Tactical Data System (ATDS) Jamming Vulnerability Study. Naval Missile Center, Pt. Mugu CA.
--1971 - Communications Engineer (Long Lines for Voice, Teletype, Secure Voice, data and AUTODIN). Defense Communications Agency- Southeast Asia Mainland, Saigon, Republic of Viet Nam.
--1970 - Airborne Communications Systems Evaluator. Evaluated Link 11 airborne-to-shipboard high frequency tactical data links, airborne UHF relay, shipboard infra-red decoys, and assisted in evaluation of air-to-sea RADAR seekers versus shipboard electronic countermeasures. Deputy Commander Operational Test and Evaluation Force, Pacific, San Diego CA.
-- Fleet Replacement Pilot Training in F-8 Crusader aircraft. Terminated flying status in April 1968. Fighter Training Squadron 124. Naval Air Station Miramar, San Diego, CA.1966-1967 - Student Naval Aviator (Jet pipeline). Designated as Naval Aviator in 1967. Naval Air Training Command. Pensacola FL, Meridian MS, Kingsville TX.
-Attended OCS and Commissioned as Ensign, USN, Newport RI.
--1966 - Studied electrical engineering, Purdue University under the Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program. Promoted to Chief Electronics Technician in 1965.
--1962 - TACAN Maintenance Technician. Supervised maintenance of Ground Transmitters and Receivers for Air-to-Ground Communications. Naval Ordnance Testing Station, China Lake, CA.
-- Studied Tactical Airborne Navigation (TACAN) ground station maintenance. Naval Schools Command, Electronics Technician (C) School, Treasure Island, CA.
--1961 - Shipboard Electronics Technician (RADAR, HF and UHF Communications, and SONAR).<br />[http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/ships/ruff.htm U.S.S. Ruff MSC(O) 54], Everett, WN.
--1960 - Maintained frequency shift keyers (FSK) for HF Radio Transmitters, frequency measuring equipment, and a pulse-position- modulation (PPM) multichannel radio link. Ran and maintained the station's Time Standard. Performed crystal grinding to tailor quartz crystals for use in radio frequency determining circuits. Naval Communications Station, Guam.
-- Studied Electronics theory and RADAR / IFF maintenance. Naval Schools Command, Electronics Technician (A) School, Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA.
-- Enlisted in United States Navy.
 ==Abstracts==
 * 2008 - "[[Interpreting SN 2006gy from a Modified Ritzian Viewpoint]]" ([http://www.naturalphilosophy.org/pdf/abstracts/abstracts_150.pdf Read in full])
 * 2005 - "[[Adriaan van Maanen's Challenge to the Expanding Universe]]"
 * 1999 - "[[Cepheids. It gets worse!]]" ([http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/cepheids.htm Read in full])
 * 1999 - "[[A Ritzian Interpretation of Variable Stars ]]" ([http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/binaries.htm Read in full])
 * 1998 - "[[Commentary on Ritz's Electrodynamics]]" ([http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/ritz.htm Read in full])
 * 1996 - "[[The Possibility that QSOs are Non-Cosmological in Origin]]"
 * 1995 - "[[Galilean Relativity and Spectroscopy: Binary Brightness / Velocity Curves]]"
 * 1994 - "[[The SRT, Quantum Mechanical Unstable States, and Cosmology]]"
 * 1994 - "[[Variable Electrical Charge Cosmological Redshift]]"
 * 1993 - "[[Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics]]" ([http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/eas.htm Read in full])
 * 1990 - "[[The Ritz-Einstein Agreement to Disagree]]" ([http://www.datasync.com/~rsf1/rtzein.htm Read in full])
 * 1988 - "[[Cosmological Redshift: Long Term Electrical Charge Variations May Account for Cosmological Redshift]]"
 ==Media==
 * 2009 - [http://www.worldsci.org/videos/dimdim/event_250_dimdim.flv Walther Ritz, Emission Theory and the Real World] (Video Lecture)
+==External links==
+* [http://www.shadetreephysics.com/ Shade Tree Physics] — Fritzius's personal website
+* [http://www.shadetreephysics.com/eas.htm Emission-Absorption-Scattering (EAS) Sub-quantum Physics]
+* [http://www.shadetreephysics.com/crit/1908a.htm English translation of Walther Ritz's 1908 electrodynamics]
 [[Category:Scientist|Fritzius Robert]]
+[[Category:Emission Theory]]
+[[Category:Astronomy]]
+[[Category:Time]]