Thomas Findlay
Thomas Findlay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | August 17, 1954 |
| Died | July 11, 2021 (aged 66) |
| Residence | Prestwick, South Ayrshire, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Known for | Electric Universe, A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electric Universe, plasma cosmology |
Thomas "Tom" Findlay (17 August 1954 – 11 July 2021) was a Scottish electrical engineer, information-technology consultant and independent researcher who became a prominent advocate of the Electric Universe paradigm. A layperson without formal training in mathematics or physics, he was best known for his freely available introductory book A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe (2013), which sought to make Electric Universe and plasma-cosmology ideas accessible to general readers.
Biography
Findlay grew up in a small Scottish mining village, where he attended primary and secondary school during the 1960s and 1970s. His first significant employment was as an apprentice electrical engineer with the National Coal Board, a training that grounded him in electrical theory, safety and practical problem-solving. He subsequently spent a year as a volunteer teaching electrical theory and English at a technical secondary school in Wad Medani, Sudan.
In 1977 he married Nora, with whom he had two sons, Ben and Jon. Findlay was employed for fifteen years by the American minicomputer company Digital Equipment (Scotland) Ltd., working in training, manufacturing and design, before leaving in 1992 to establish his own business. From then until his later years he ran NaT Systems as a sole proprietor, providing information-technology support to small businesses and private individuals.
A lifelong amateur radio enthusiast, Findlay held the callsign GM4DOZ from 1972. In later life he devoted himself to studying astronomy, cosmology, physics, quantum theory, relativity, philosophy and parapsychology. He lived in Prestwick, South Ayrshire, and died on 11 July 2021 in Ayr, Scotland.
Work
After encountering the theories of the Electric (or Plasma) Universe, Findlay became a committed supporter of the paradigm and took it upon himself to educate himself in its ideas and to promote them to a wider public. His central work, A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe, was written by a layperson for laypeople; it presents the view that electromagnetic forces, rather than gravity alone, play a dominant role in shaping objects and events throughout a universe understood as being largely composed of plasma. He made the book freely available as a download through his website while also offering it in eBook and printed editions.
Findlay was associated with the wider Electric Universe community and The Thunderbolts Project, whose members remembered him as a gifted communicator who made complex scientific topics accessible to non-specialist audiences. His guiding personal approach was summarised as "Enquire; Understand; Act." Following his death, The Thunderbolts Project published a memorial tribute in January 2022 honouring his contributions to popularising the Electric Universe paradigm.
Abstracts
Books
External links
- NewToEU – author's website for A Beginner's View of Our Electric Universe
- "A Few Words in Honor of a Dear Friend and Colleague: Thomas Findlay (1954–2021)" – The Thunderbolts Project