Winston Bostick

Bostick coined 'plasmoid' in 1956 at UC Livermore under Project Sherwood (AEC fusion program, Contract W-7405-ENG-48). His plasma gun projected ionized matter at speeds up to 2×10^7 cm/sec. He observed plasmoids reflecting off each other, following curved orbits, and smashing into fragments. By 1957, he demonstrated laboratory simulation of spiral galaxy formation using multiple plasma sources. His career spanned MIT Radiation Lab (1941-1948), Tufts (1948-1954), Livermore (1954-1956), and Stevens Institute (1956-1981/1986) as George Meade Bond Professor. His primary collaborator was Vittorio Nardi (1967-1995, 18 shared papers). At the 22nd APS DPP Annual Meeting (November 10-14, 1980, San Diego), Bostick met Ken Shoulders and interested him in vortex filaments — directly inspiring Shoulders' EVO work. Bostick also conducted research at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory (Kirtland AFB), establishing a direct institutional connection to later AFRL plasma weapons programs. His patent US 2,900,548 (1957) 'Plasma generator' was assigned to the US Atomic Energy Commission. Nachamkin's 1992 paper states: 'Some of the results of the simple theory may explain experiments performed by Bostick and his associates.' Bostick died January 19, 1991 in Tijuana, Mexico.