Bill Wattenburg

Willard Harvey Wattenburg (born February 9, 1936), better known as Dr. Bill Wattenburg or Dr. Bill, is an inventor, engineer, author, and radio talk show host residing in the Sierra Nevada region of California. Advertisements for his show often referred to him as "The Smartest Man in the World."

Born in Chico, California, and raised in the forests of Plumas County, Wattenburg grew up working with 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, Wattenburg 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 Laboratory.

As an engineer, 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 California State University, Chico.

As an inventor, Wattenburg has eight patents to his credit, one being the first home alarm system using electrical wiring for its communication medium. Many of his ideas, such as using flatbed rail cars as temporary bridges, unenergized electric water heaters for storage of emergency potable water, and converting plow blades into minesweepers are deceptively simple, variants of prior art or folk technology.

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