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Analog Designer Bob Pease Dies In Car Crash
EdwinFreed writes "It's being widely reported that Bob Pease, well known analog circuit designer and author of Pease Porridge, has died in a car accident. He reportedly was driving alone in his 1969 Beetle and failed to negotiate a turn."
I'm sorry he died, but he wasn't wearing a seat belt. He presumably understood the risk that entailed.
As an analog designer, I've come to appreciate Bob's many contributions over the years. He was a good writer and a terrific engineer, and he knew both theory and hands-on practice better than most of us. He could explain complex concepts in simple language, and it seemed he was a no-nonsense kind of guy yet had a good sense of humour. The electronics field, from hobbyists, to other engineers, to semiconductor companies, owes him a debt of gratitude. He will be missed.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
I used to live for his regular columns. I loved his wit, and curmudgeonly attitude. I met him a few times and found him the same in person as he was in print. He will be missed. Yeah, VW beetles were dangerous little cars. I drove one for years (a 1964 model) and I was very careful, and knew what a death trap they could be. But how many of us ride motorcycles, or other dangerous vehicles. Life is a series of risks. I guess we could wrap ourselves in cotton balls and stay home. He was not a "damned fool" just a human being who chose to do something he knew was risky, who no doubt weighed the risks, and decided to go ahead.
The worst part is that Mr Pease was coming back from the funeral of Jim Williams, another analog great working at Linear Tech.
Mostly random stuff.
Bullshit. They were deathtraps from day one.
Bob was a great educator of working EEs. His passing is a great loss for all of us.
Bob Pease and Jim Williams (who also died recently) were legends in analog electronics.
Bob was still an active contributor to many columns.
His last is here http://electronicdesign.com/article/analog-and-mixed-signal/What-s-All-This-Solo-Hiking-Stuff-Anyhow-.aspx
RIP Bob
46137
I appreciate all the insight you lent me and the fact that you opened my eyes to a better way to troubleshoot and think about systems.
Bleh!
We don't know if he died "stupidly", whatever that may mean. For all I know he had stroke/heart attack and was unconscious when it was time to turn the steering wheel.
By the way, Bob was coming back from a memorial service for Jim Williams, another of analog circuit design great minds. He missed the end of the service by half an hour.
I'm getting drunk tonight in their memory. All I know in analog circuit design I've learned from my dad and them, I'd say they all share equal influence on me. Bob and Jim were great teachers, seriously down-to-Earth, no-bullshit guys.
A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
Bob will be missed. I have been reading his postings on EDN for many, many years (probably about 25 years now) and always found them interesting, informational, and often quite funny. The Silicon Valley and the industry has lost a real gentleman and guiding light.
Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real-time.
It wasn't vandalism. He did write such a book, which got decidedly mixed reviews. I haven't read it.
In this case the his driving (and seat belt) probably had nothing to do with it. He was 70, recently diagnosed with diabetes, and had just come back from a memorial for a good friend. He was most likely dead of a coronary event before his car left the road.
I can't think of anything digital in a 69 Beetle. From the sounds of it I'd be surprised if he even had an AM radio in there.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Yes, but typically they are tied to the door handles to keep the doors on or the ceiling grab loops to keep the seats from dropping out the bottom.
Probably not, they are just known for hideous understeer. That's what you get for putting the engine in the wrong place.
And yes, I am aware that one of my favourite cars also has the engine in the same, wrong, place. I guess they have more weight up front to counteract it.
I always enjoyed his columns. He was down to earth and not afraid to call bullshit when needed. It's true, always read his column first. He'll be missed.
UNDERsteer, in a rear-engine car? I think you have a bit of confusion in terms there. Oversteer is what occurs when the rear of a vehicle loses traction due to weight imbalance. Additionally, Ralph Nader's criticism of the similarly rear-engined Corvair (and its contemporary Volkswagens) in "Unsafe at Any Speed" had a lot to do with that vehicle's use of a swing-axle transaxle, in which the rear axle's suspension only has one, vertical, degree of freedom and thus has a tendency to bounce upwards during oversteer incidents and risk overturning the whole car. 1969 and later Beetles had independent rear suspension, which does not exhibit this behavior. The Corvair was killed before it could be evolved in this direction.
Additionally, Porsche fanatics will tell you that the 911's rear engine placement is actually an advantage in terms of traction during corner exit, so long as you are not foolish enough to lift the throttle in mid-turn.
a ridiculous godwin is a good godwin. and it was kind of meant as a joke on the heated trolling/discussion below regarding "seatbelts: useless, or nanny state murder device?"
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Bob Pease is also the author of the book "How to drive into accidents - and how not to".
Bob Pease was a living God in the field of analog circuit design. He designed a metric shit-ton of chips for National Semiconductor, wrote a regular column in Electronic Design magazine, and on top of all that, he was a damn fine individual, willing to talk to the most junior tech. He will be sorely missed by those of us that knew him and his work.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
Bob was one of the most clearheaded problem solvers out there, regardless of domain. When I was designing high-voltage CRT drivers, his books and columns were invaluable. When I moved on to digital, then FPGA system architecture, then management, again his thinking was almost always mappable in some way to the problems at hand.
When he wrote a self-published book on driving, _How to Drive Into Accidents and How Not To_, I bought and read that too (472 pages on driving).
For those that say Bob was not serious about seatbelts because he apparently was not wearing one, he talked in detail about how that Beetle had rotted belts, how he had purchased nylon webbing to repair them, and his difficulties in finding a good, robust way to sew them. He made the point that a seatbelt "holds you down firmly and helps you AVOID having an accident." [Bob's emphasis]
The man was not perfect, and I'm sure his actions did not always match his intent (did you ever see pictures of his desk? or the back seat of the Beetle?), but we've lost a great thinker, and he will be greatly missed.
You're a damned fool in making assumptions. There's nothing out there so far (else post links) that indicates that seat belts (or their lack) played any role in the outcome. Shut up.
You've made four comments saying pretty much the same thing. Maybe you should close the window and do something else, there's no point getting stressed over a Slashdot comment (or four).
Also, if you don't wear a seatbelt I strongly suggest you reconsider that decision. At the very least, you must wear one when sitting in the back, as that will prevent you from crushing the person in the front seat in a collision.
Bob has certainly left his mark on the analog world. I've attended a few of his seminars, and meeting him in person cannot leave one with any other impression than to know he was simply brilliant, and brilliantly simple. He saw things in ways none of us was ever taught to look at them.
He will be missed.