Bill Wattenburg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willard Harvey Wattenburg (born February 9, 1936), better known as Dr. Bill Wattenburg, is an inventor, scientist, author, and radio talk show host residing in the Sierra Nevadas of California.
Born in Chico, California and raised in the forests of Plumas County, Wattenburg grew up helping his father in the logging business. His scientific talent was discovered by a teacher, who encouraged him to apply to several schools, including the University of California, Berkeley, where he completed his first year with honors. After his freshman year, he moved back to assist his father in his business, and graduated from California State University, Chico summa cum laude in physics and electrical engineering. He then returned to Berkeley for his doctorate in electrical engineering, completing it in three years, and worked at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and as a professor at Berkeley until 1970. After that, he was a consultant to various engineering and defense-oriented businesses. He remains a consultant to the Livermore lab.
As an inventor, Wattenburg has eight patents to his credit. He invented the first home alarm system using electrical wiring as the communications medium. Many of his ideas, such as using box cars as temporary bridges, unplugged water heaters for storage of emergency water, and converting plow blades into minesweepers, are deceptively simple.
As a scientist, Wattenburg discovered many of the original problems with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, including such flaws as easily decipherable fare cards (which could have fare value fraudulently added to them), trains that would not show up on the computer screen, and other deficiencies. He has published numerous articles in scientific journals, and continues to do research as an adjunct professor at Chico State.
Since 1972, Wattenburg has been the host of The Open Line to the West Coast, a talk show heard late Saturday and Sunday evenings on KGO AM 810. On the program, Wattenburg takes calls from throughout the Western United States. The program is the most listened to radio program in the Western United States in that time slot. On the show, Wattenburg answers questions about science, talks about politics, current events, and discusses some of his ideas. Some of his current recurring topics are whether premium gasoline is worthwhile, support for nuclear power, and his disdain for the Sierra Club and the environmental movement, whom he calls ecofreaks or ecofrauds. He also is a strong supporter of Ford automobiles and gets angry at those who prefer foreign cars. Politically, Wattenburg is generally known as a conservative; however he takes the traditional liberal position on some social issues, such as abortion. He is well-known for his distinctive low voice. He especially enjoys taking calls from children who ask him basic scientific questions of the Why is the sky blue? variety.
As an author, Wattenburg wrote two books for the general public. One book, Best Jokes From Talk Radio, is a compilation of risque jokes heard on talk radio. The second book, How to Find and Fascinate a Mistress, is a fictionalized version of Wattenburg's exploits with young women in the 1970's. The book, which set him up as a male antidote to the feminism of Gloria Steinem, earned Wattenburg millions of dollars in print, under his pseudonym of Will Harvey. The book is long since out of print.
Wattenburg is married to a younger woman named Carol and has had a daughter with her. He also has three children from a previous marriage. He has also made brief appearances in three Clint Eastwood films: The Dead Pool (Nolan Kennard), Pink Cadillac (pit boss), and True Crime (radio reporter).
