Photograph by George Sakkestad
Los Gatan Charles Walton keeps busy in his laboratory, but lately he's been thinking about nothing.
By Bob Aldrich
Prolific Los Gatos inventor Charles Walton has written and published a 50-page book about nothing.
Well, not exactly nothing. Walton's The Space Before Your Face, aimed primarily at a ninth-grade audience, is about the cubic foot of space that everyone has in front of his or her nose (except maybe in crowded elevators.) After a lifetime of studying scientific phenomena, Walton sees a whole lot more in that cubic foot of "nothing" than most of us.
"After you've finished reading," the author promises, "you'll never be the same again."
The book, illustrated in watercolors by Joan Hildebrand of San Jose, describes some 20 phenomena that go on in that "empty" space right before us. These include such unseen but very real things as gas and air molecules, gravity, magnetic and electronic fields, light waves and radio and heat waves.
Although it's intended for ninth-graders, adults can learn from the book, too, Walton says.
Even educated grownups may not be wholly conversant with such matters as the earth's magnetic and electrical fields, X-ray radiation, cosmic rays, neutrinos and "flavored molecules."
Neutrinos? They're particles that have no charge and pass completely through the earth without collisions. Most neutrinos are generated by the sun, though bursts of neutrinos have been detected from star formations.
Flavored molecules? Some things in that space can be detected using your nose. "You can mark your cubic foot," Walton writes, "with a perfume spray. Each droplet contains several millions of molecules. The sense of smell has nerve receptors which can identify a great variety of molecules."
Walton gives attention to extra-sensory perception, too. He defines ESP as "a sensing activity beyond our usual five senses, in ways not understood. . . . This is exciting, but unproved--and for the time being, at least, upriver," he says.
"We learn much about the universe by studying our immediate vicinity," Walton says, "or letting the phenomenon report to us. We learn much about the mind and about biology by studying ourselves."
Through that cubic foot of space, he points out, our minds reach out to other persons. "We can communicate love and friendship, right through the space in front of our face," he says.
Some of that feeling, he adds, happens between humans and animals.
"Is it just light rays and sound waves, and nerves in our eyes and ears," Walton asks, "or is there something more subtle but important, waiting to be discovered?"
The holder of 45 patents, mostly in electronics, the author and president of Walton Electronics formerly served as vice president of Schlage Electronics. Prior to that, he spent 20 years in product development at IBM.
"Many of my inventions are inside IBM machines," he says.
One of his inventions and designs at IBM was a special low-noise transistor technology for modern disk-drive magnetic heads.
But his invention with the most visible results has been the proximity identification card, used by employees, including many at Apple Computer. The card, using short-range radio signals, can be "read" while inside a wallet or handbag.
He continues at work on new inventions; currently, he is involved with infrared communications systems.
A graduate of Cornell University with a B.E.E. degree and with a masters from Stevens Institute, Walton founded the annual Walton Peace Essay Challenge for Bay Area high-school students eight years ago.
He likes sailing and is a member of the Los Gatos Yacht Club.
The Space Before Your Face can be ordered for $20 from Walton Electronics, 19115 Overlook Road, Los Gatos, 95030, or by phoning 354-1358.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 7, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved