Like you, I am musically inept except for my hearing. I tried music as a youth and realized that the amount of work I would have to do to become just competent was staggering. I put the work into baseball instead :)

I first became REALLY interested in the speed of sound, and particularly the speed of sound on the Bonneville Salt Flats. There were several near misses in my youth, and I had to figure out what the big deal was. By the time Craig Breedlove accomplished the deal I had at least some understanding of the physics.

And for the record: Probably my favorite unsuccessful attempt was by Tommy Ivo. He put four Oldsmobile engines in a car. Two pair that were connected at the crank and the pairs pushed through a drive that ended up in one driveshaft. Harmonic imbalance ultimately sunk that project but I had a whole new series of waves to check out....

Thanks Petra. Your explanation is once again flawless. What a great series, and I hardly have the words to thank you for it!