I was "drilling down" through the Smith Chart vi to see how it was put together, and learned that this is one of the more complex VIs in the entire Labview library. This is not too surprising, as the transmission line equations are rather complex (though quite elegant). What really struck me was how innovative Philip Smith had to have been in coming up with this device some 60 years ago...all by hand. With all the marvelous tools we have at our disposal (Labview being near the top of the list, of course) it still strikes me that we really only make incremental progress in our knowledge. The Smith Chart gave us such an incredible leap of insight into electronics...I'd almost put it on the same level of importance as the slide rule.
I wonder if, amongst all the brilliant minds working on and with Labview, whether we could come up with something as elegant and fundamental as the Smith Chart....or is the end of an intellectual era....sort of like the Renaissance? Are there any fundamentals left to discover?
Just a thought.
eric
