People: Light on Lightning

In Lincoln, Neb. Professor John C. Jensen of Nebraska Wesleyan University ponders lightning. Currently he has shed light thereon in the Physical Review.

Scientists do not understand thunder and they still argue about lightning. George Clarke Simpson's "breaking drop" theory has been most widely accepted. Experiments have shown that when falling water drops are made to break on a rising column of air, the drops take on a positive charge of electricity, the air and lighter spray a negative charge. Drops large enough to fall against a...

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