Michael Baker
A good deal of my working life was served in the Royal Navy. I am a retired maths teacher BEd BA (OU). Fortunately, I have been able to complete postgraduate studies at Exeter University, MA and MPhil
Location I live in Exeter, close to the Roman walls with my dear wife Jean.
Achievements
Activity
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@JonLovett The Gas turbines I had in mind are 'two man portable' and there fueled by diesel oil. Ignition is hand start crank, very agricultural but very efficient for long periods of use. (Rover gas Turbines)
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Michael Baker made a comment
I have made positive comments in the course about the contents. The above however supports my contention that this course makes an invaluable contribution to our knowledge. Thanks to everyone for all their efforts.
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Michael Baker made a comment
This is an excellent course with lots of interesting content. Now, I shall set myself the task of returning to the text to reinforce my understanding. Sincere thanks Leeds University. Mike :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
The course is both well structured and really interesting.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Very much a 'thinking week' in which I have learnt a good deal. I am interested in the energy gap between crops for biofuels and solar photovoltaic panels. This is just one of the many areas to pursue. I will go back however, over some subject areas of Ist week.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I would endorse the comments by Charles and the Bottom Up approach. It seems to have a good deal more positive spin offs.
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Option 3 through the LCOE seems to be the one, however, I would not be content with the diesel addition. Portable gas turbines are far more efficient with less pollution.
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Michael Baker replied to Charles Belveal
Wind, solar and an emergency generator for a medical clinic on the island.
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Michael Baker made a comment
There is an increasingly use of the grid in a 'two way' system in which electricity is exported into the grid. In France the TGV trains export electricity into the grid when at speed. Commercial power stations export a surplus of electricity into the grid in the UK.
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I think it is an enlightened approach to the pervasive problem of the past. It is positive, a relief from the environmental promises that are made and seemingly quickly forgotton.
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I visited St Kilda when in the Royal Navy. Then it was an 'Early Warning' facilty. All power came from diesel generators looked after by the army, the so called KGB. (Kilda Generating Board).
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Michael Baker made a comment
Our home is connected to the National Grid and so:
Solar, Wind,Nuclear, LPG . -
Michael Baker made a comment
Explorations have revealed K2-18b exoplanet seems to have good possibilities. Science confirmed water and we know the atmosphere is 50% H2O and temperature 0 degrees - 40c.The downside might be the distance which is 110 Light Years.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I know our Earth atmosphere is formidable. A Saturn rocket is required to lift off and take a craft to the edge of space. Atmospheric Pressure in Exeter now is 1020 millibars.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hi everyone, I'm Mike and I live in Exeter,Devon. I am looking forward to this course and its content.
Best wishes. :) -
Michael Baker made a comment
An excellent course that deciphers what is a complex text. I was somewhat reluctant at first to do the course but I'm certainly pleased I did.
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Michael Baker made a comment
This is all challenging but compelling and very interesting.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I am very interested in the cooperation between Boswell and Johnston. Also the influence of Johnston on the work of Jane Austin.
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Michael Baker made a comment
This is a subject area that will challenge and fulfill. I am really looking forward to the weeks ahead.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Firstly, many thanks to Aamir Raza and the very useful of my assignment. :) Many thanks also to everyone who made a contribution to this quality course. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
A most useful course very well presented with invaluable content. Thank you to all. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
An obsorbing and challenging course which the attentive student can gain greatly from. By applying course advice it is an easier task to read scientific articles.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Balance + Responsibility= Good Science Writing.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Very interesting and somewhat challenging. The BBC Science journalists are worth watching.
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Michael Baker made a comment
An excellent tool to have access in our studies.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I have written my story on a related aspect of drinking water polution. Sewage is the main cause of polution in drinking water. Indeed for most diseases, exposure to pollution plays a far greater part in mortality than genetics.
New Scientist, January 29th 2022. -
Michael Baker made a comment
There is a good deal of news and speculation on the state of the water purity and safety of Britain's waterways. The worst offender is untreated sewage,
being discharged into river systems and the sea.
All water companies are guilty in some way of sewage discharge crimes.Sewage was dumped into english rivers alone on more than 400,000 separate occasions...
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Michael Baker made a comment
A very useful way forward.
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Michael Baker made a comment
It would be a most difficult task to cover all the awful outcomes from having malaria whilst pregnant. The articles focus on the specific advancement is worthy therefore.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I read the New Scientist and their articles seem always to be able to 'translate' complicated subjects into understood language.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Three cheers Paul and thank you and the team for the course. I think the course will go well with the technical writing course I completed last year.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hello Everyone, I'm Mike from Exeter England and I'm a follower of science generally. My particular interest however is the Period Table and mathmatics. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Changing relations between England and France.
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Michael Baker made a comment
An excellent adjunct to refer to.
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Michael Baker made a comment
An excellent course, interesting and which makes a great contribution to the subject area.
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Michael Baker made a comment
A most interesting week once more. I shall return to the content over this weekend.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Highly informative and very interesting. Thank you.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Once again I shall go over again this 'last week'. However,it is a task I shall find rewarding so thanks to all. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Excellent !!
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Michael Baker made a comment
A highly and informative video.
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Michael Baker made a comment
An excellent first week full of interest and promise for week 2. Thank you all.
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I shall put some extra time in on this subject area and keep at it. Otherwise....keep calm and carry on... :)
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A most thoughtful and well structured piece with lots to think about. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Thank you all so much for this inspirational course.
' Ancora Imparo' I am still learning....
Michelangelo aged 89 -
Michael Baker made a comment
Hi to everyone with warm greetings from Exeter, England. I am very happy to be able to start this course on a favourite subject area. :) Michael.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I shall return to 'Cloud' over this weekend and assimilate the finer points (hopefully)
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There are a number of really interesting points here. I think the use of robots in a hostile environment beyond the capaciity of humans, would be invaluable.
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Michael Baker made a comment
The Dutch engineers building the flood prevention here in Exeter U.K, used drones successfully to plot tides and the work in progress. It was maintained the project was completed earlier as a result of drone use.
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Michael Baker made a comment
This subject area of Origami and its application is something of a 'wake up call' for me. It is as Kimberly points out, fascinating.
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Michael Baker made a comment
A subject area that is well worth further attention.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Inspirational content which I think Iwill go over again this weekend. :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Excellent and very well structured.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Well done fellow learners for the comprehensive lists. Related subject, a book I would recommend is 'Lifes of the Engineers' by Samuel Smiles.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Very informative and interesting.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Lots to think about retain.
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Michael Baker made a comment
After a building is finished and the paths are layed together with the grass lawns what happens often, is that unofficial paths will come into use. These are often known as 'pathways of desire'. Usually there are excellent pratical reasons for their installation. It is a good example of how users can sidestep designers.
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I am looking forward to the content of the next week and indeed those that follow. Also the very interesting comment of contributions from fellow learners.
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Michael Baker made a comment
One Hebrew Cubit = 18inches.
Pi = 22/7 3.14159, Milu = 355/113 = 3.14159. -
Michael Baker made a comment
Excellent content with a good explanation of career oportunities.
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Michael Baker made a comment
On the banks of the River Thames in London a pedestrian bridge was built and opened to public use. However, the engineers had not took into account an engineering factor of: 'synchronised lateral excitation'. The bridge structure movement causes everyone crossing to adjust their pace at the same time and inadvertainly increase bridge movement, the amplitude of...
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Michael Baker made a comment
A useful conversion method is to change the high value numbers million, billion into time,specifically seconds. So 1 million seconds =1/3 month. 1 billion seconds= 330 months. 1 trillion seconds = 31000 years!! The magnitude of these numbers is thus better understood.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Communication... an essential skill certainly in teaching and lecturing.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Maxwell is generally regarded as the greatest physicist between Newton and Einstein.* His work is difficult to follow but if the printed explanation of his work is at hand, it can be less daunting. (* ' Subatomic Particles' S.Weinburg)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Chemical Engineering. At present there are 118 elements in the Periodic Table. The last element to be discovered was Ununoctium but there is room for more.
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Michael Baker made a comment
It can be useful to consider resistant and non-resistant materials to tools also.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Boston Dynamics...Mechanical and Electrical engineering.
Neuralink... Chemical and Electrical engineering, brain machine interface.
Aero Mobil Flying Car...specializing in Mechanical and Civil Engineering. -
Michael Baker made a comment
I think mechanical engineering with its many 'off shoots' like material science, mechanics is interesting to consider.
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Michael Baker made a comment
The population off aged people in a Care Home has increased greatly but the staff numbers are the same. What is wanted is some means of informing the night nurse at their station when a patient is out of bed.
A solution. The bed is against the wall and an 'alarm system' needs to be installed. A modest design would consist of an 'alarm' rug that the patient... -
Michael Baker made a comment
Electricity...even with the controversy in its generation.
Computer...a hub of information, access to so many applications
Hospital technology...x-ray, scanning machines et cetra that await my use if needed. -
Michael Baker made a comment
The wheel had multiple applications in simple lifting machines with the pulley. Accuracy with the level in building structures, from roads to cathedrals.
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Michael Baker made a comment
A useful definition of technology in the OU was:
' The application of science and other organised knowledge to practical tasks that involve people and machines'. -
Michael Baker made a comment
I spent a good deal of my working life in the Royal Navy, which I joined having been a coal miner. I left the service as a warrant officer specialising in marine engineering propulsion. I attended teacher training and studied for a BEd in technology. With the aid of FutureLearn I have since gained a MA and Phil. I live in Exeter,UK hard by the Roman Walls.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I am Mike and I live in Exeter, England. I spent a good deal of my working time in the Royal Navy. During which time I read for a BA withe the Open University. On release, I attended teacher training college and took a BEd in Design Technology. I have been fortunate and with the aid of Future Learn, I have completed a MA and MPhil.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hello there, I am a retired teacher of design technology, ( which is the term used in the UK for work with resistant materials) This course seems ideal for the subject area I am very interested in. :) Mike
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Michael Baker made a comment
'It was the best of courses it was the most interesting of courses'.... Thank you all. Mike :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Sincere thanks to Gabrielle Lopez for the very helpful, comprehensive comments made on my piece of news.
Mike :) -
Michael Baker made a comment
Many thanks to Dorka Tomas for her review of my poem. The comprehensive comments were very useful and I shall apply the advice. Once again Dorka, many thanks Mike :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
I think the terminals poem is a really good idea and I shall have another go later on.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I've always considered books of poems good 'companions', more so to read when I was at sea in the Royal Navy. Often poems find a change of context in being used to reflect a contempory event. Consequently, Robert Kennedy used Aeschylus when he spoke of the death of Dr Martin.L.King. 'There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief'. ...
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Michael Baker made a comment
W.H.Auden Selected Poems, the works of Aeschylus, The Oresteia. In engineering authorship the Haiku is often used as a model of clarity and precision of expression. I like poetry that might have an historical connection. So, as a medieval scribe would intone before starting to write, ' God Bless My Hands'.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I spent a good deal of my early life in the Royal Navy. During my service I read for a BA (OU) and on release I took a BEd and became a maths teacher. With the help of FutureLearn, I was fortunate to complete an MA and MPhil in History.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hi Everyone, I was a miner in Darwen when I was fifteen. The rest of my family were in textiles, some at quite famous mills. Best wishes Michael :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
I am reminded of the Declaration of Arbroth and the writing. It was a sincere desire to lift the Papel excumunication of Scotland instigated by Edward I.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I have really enjoyed this week and found the contents highly informative. Thank you.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Excellent first week with lots to think about.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hello Everyone, I know very little about Walter Scott despite having postgraduate degrees. So, I do think it time to resolve the situation. Best wishes, Mike from sunny Exeter England.
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Michael Baker made a comment
An inspirational course which would prove invaluable to anyone thinking of entering the profession. It would also be of great use to a working teacher.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Clarity through out with very good illustrations. I think perhaps that the concrete stage could act as something of a 'filter' and students could move on to other stages if they were familar with the initial stage.
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In my opinion this is something of a 'breath of fresh air' in teaching maths at this level. It will be interesting to see to C.P.A applied in teaching older students.
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Michael Baker made a comment
This is a great course that is well presented and logically structured. I usually write for academic journals and so this was quite a leap forward. Clauswitz and the French ladies were mine. Thanks to positive comment, I will continue. Many thanks to all... 'and so dear reader I married him', what do you think ? :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
There are many aspects of Week 1 which I have found very interesting and thought provoking. I shall revisit Week 1 again over the weekend. On reflection questions now arise in my mind so more attention is needed. Thank you for an excellent first week. :)
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I rather liked the idea that 'teaching is a cultural activity'. I shall have to start wearing a tie to school.
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Teaching only the essential and ensure plenty of practice
is a concept that is used in the U.K. -
A valuable point was made with the large class size ( approximately 37 ) It seemed that the students that were able to keep up then helped those having difficulties. Large numbers in class were resolved by 'whole class activity and public activity'. I was reminded of 'Dames Schools' . A very interesting interview.
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Michael Baker made a comment
I did think the concept here was an interesting departure from the more usual format. I completed the test but I found the application of reasoning more necessary here.
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Michael Baker made a comment
Hello Barbara and everyone else, I'm always attempting to learn and improve my approach to maths and teaching.
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I am a former technology/maths teacher and I would like to improve my understanding. Interestingly I found that :
Milu ( Pi ) 355 divided by 113 = 3.141 which equates to 22 divided by 7 = 3.141 approx. It is this I find interesting. -
Michael Baker made a comment
Thank you very much Rebecca Romano for your helpful review of my assignment. I usually write articles for history journals and technical publications so fiction is a departure for me. Nevertheless, I am pleased to continue with the help of your comments. Best wishes, Mike, (Exeter England)
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Michael Baker made a comment
Many thanks to Miruthula and her very useful comments on 'My French Ladies' article. Thank you :)
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Michael Baker made a comment
A really useful and encouraging week.