QW Obit: Robert Rines

Picture: The Economist

The Economist has written up a nice obituary piece up for Robert Rines, whose passion and integrity in pursuit of his obsession practically make him a patron saint of this site:

He never saw clearly enough to find Nessie—except on that one day in 1972, when he had been too moved and excited to work the Super-8 camera that shook in his hand. But the founder of the Academy of Applied Science, and the patent lawyer, regularly recognised himself in the inventors, old and young, who came to see him. The streak of craziness; the thrill of the quest; the frequent difficulty of describing what their invention was, how it worked, what it was for; their vulnerability to ridicule, because what they had done or thought was new; and the need to protect that thought, as something interesting and precious in itself. Mr Rines’s generosity and openness to them was no more than he hoped for for himself, as he sat patiently in his waterproofs, waiting, beside a Scottish shore.

Goodbye, Mr. Rines. You will be missed.

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