Description

Black and white photograph of David J. Coker measuring the speed of shock waves in argon using tubes at left. Original caption: "David J. Coker, 1962, of Somerville, Mass., measured the speed of shock waves in argon. He used the shock tube at left and observed ionization fronts with a photomultiplier recording system, which he designed and built. His was a problem faced by reentry vehicle designers and in studies of the more general problem of non-equilibrium thermodynamics of ionized gases."