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Rob Koslowsky (707) 528-1959
Release: RKK2102 - October 30, 2006
R. K. (Rob) Koslowsky: author, speaker, technologist, trend tracker
SCIENTIFIC WRITINGS IN DEMAND
Rob’s writings, especially those addressing featured scientists, have found homes in numerous upcoming publications. The editors Rob has contracted with during the past year hail from a number of leading universities and publishing houses such as the University of Houston and Facts-on-File, St. John's University and Greenwood Publishing, Bacone College and M.E. Sharpe Publishing, as well as the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Texas. The sheer volume of work being pulled together for publication in 2007 and 2008 is indicative of the educated public’s thirst for scientific writings.
Much of the research developed in some of these essays is also utilized and molded by Rob into a format for the general reader who subscribes to his newsletter, ‘A World Perspective.’ Rob is pleased at the reader response to date as he begins the third year of publication with the November issue. The format is also being updated and a couple of new features are being introduced to satisfy the reader’s appetite for more details on the discipline of chemistry and for a deeper understanding of the language of science, mathematics.
In support of the California-writing community, look for Rob's contribution entitled, Generational Shift from Consumption to Conservation, in the September 2006 publication of "Vintage Voices: A Sonoma County Writers Club Harvest." The Redwood branch of the California Writers Club, of which Rob is a member, produced this anthology in collaboration with Lulu Publishing. Rob's invited nonfiction essay reinforces the importance of balance between humanity and nature. It captures the mind shift change currently being accelerated as people become educated on the importance of conservation over consumption, in spite of the intense media pressure to consume.
About the Author: Rob Koslowsky is an experienced, articulate, provocative media guest and excellent speaker. He was educated as a technologist, worked as an engineer with a large corporation, and marketed for an entrepreneurial startup company. Rob was recognized as a top marketer for Nortel Networks in 1995 and led the marketing for one of the 'Hot Startup Companies' of 1999, Cerent Corporation. His first book, ‘A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes’ was released in 2004 to critical acclaim, while his Newsletter begins its third year of circulation in Canada, the United States, and England. Rob can be reached via e-mail at rob.koslowsky@sbcglobal.net.
Rob Koslowsky: author, speaker, technologist and trend tracker addresses
THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON SOCIETY
SANTA ROSA: Rob's first book, entitled 'A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes - the Impact of Science on Society,' is about the positive impact science and technology continue to have on western society. It is of particular interest to the college-educated adult reader. The premise is that science has a positive impact on society when:
- knowledge is shared,
- applications raise the overall quality of life, and
- energy consumption increases.
Readers will find the book very important as they live in an ever-increasing technological society and will discover how critical it is:
- to understand at least one area of science,
- to challenge the rationale of associations, corporations, or governments, and
- to ensure these members, shareholders, and citizens are best served,
as they contribute to their family, community, and state.
The book (ISBN 1-41204008-6) is unique in that it gives a perspective of how western society was shaped by science and technology from the viewpoint of a baby boomer. Its descriptive style encourages readers to reflect on ways they can become more involved as they contribute to a better society in their own unique way. The book is a relatively easy read, written without technical formulae, and organized into three major parts that can be absorbed quickly in no more than three quick readings. The book captures the essence of the biological, cultural, and technological evolutions of humanity.
Rob contends that the increasing amount of leisure activity each of us harvests could be further used to increase a greater proportion of the world population's quality of life. Science and technology have ensured that this has happened and will continue to happen in the future. In fact, an increasing per capita consumption in energy assures stability, fairness, and richness in each civilized culture.
About the Author: Rob Koslowsky is an experienced, articulate, provocative media guest and excellent speaker. He was educated as a technologist, worked as an engineer with a large corporation, and marketed for an entrepreneurial startup company. Rob was recognized as a top marketer for Nortel Networks in 1995 and led the marketing for one of the 'Hot Startup Companies' of 1999, Cerent Corporation. Rob can be reached via e-mail at rob.koslowsky@sbcglobal.net.
Anthologies
Look for Rob's contributions entitled "Generational Shift from Consumption to Conservation" in the September 2006 publication of "Vintage Voices: A Sonoma County Writers Club Harvest," and "Did Bing Crosby Invent the Video Cassette Recorder?" in the September 2007 publication of Vintage Voices: A Toast to Life."These anthologies are produced by the Redwood branch of the California Writers Club, of which Rob is a member. He was recently elected to serve as an officer of the Redwood branch for the 2007 - 2008 term.
Book Contests
Rob participated in the 12th Annual International Book Awards. His book was cited for its excellent structure and organization. One judge wrote, "The book is well-researched and thought-provoking."- Writer's Digest, June 2005
Book Reviews
A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes by Rob Koslowsky is about the positive impact science and technology have had and continue to have on western society. The basic premise is that science has a positive impact when knowledge is shared, applications raise the overall quality of life, and energy consumption increases. Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader, Koslowsky points out that we who live in an ever-increasing technological and science knowledge-based society will be committed to understanding at least one area of science; will need to be able to challenge the rationale of associations, corporations, and governments in order to ensure association members, corporate shareholders, and the citizens of governments are best served with respect to themselves, their families, their communities, and the nation-states. Best of all, A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes captures and showcases the essence of the biological, cultural, and technological evolutions of the human race over the past millennia. Highly recommended reading!- Midwest Book Review, February 2005
Question and Answer with Rob Koslowsky
on his first book, 'A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes.'Q - Why did you write this book?
A - I wrote this book to fill a need. During the past thirty years, I’ve read a lot of excellent works of fiction. I’ve also read books by specialists about their field of expertise, be it history, art, religion, science, or industry. Yet, I’ve not found a general non-fiction work that addresses the technical community about the impact of science on society. My book not only addresses the impact but provides perspective on the issue.
Q - What is 'A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes' about?
A - First let me say what 'A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes' is not about. This book is not a history textbook or a history of science book. It is not a treatise on philosophy or theology. Rather, it is a book on the major themes in the evolution of the human race and the impact of science thereto. It is a book with the overarching theme addressing the impact of science on society; one in which the technical community has not had time to digest and reflect upon during the past fifty years of hectic development and innovation.
Q - Why will the general public read a book written by a technologist?
A - The general public will find this book exciting in the different way the subject of the impact science has on society is broached. Just as an engineer appreciates the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge and the precision of the clock, the inspiration from watching the setting sun, reading a biblical passage, or viewing a Bouguereau painting can motivate and enlighten that same engineer. The inspiration and motivation we find in our daily work is important for more humane progress in society. In this way, I aim to provide the reader, either technical or nontechnical, with an appreciation of the evolving world from the viewpoint of one who has been technically trained. During my lifetime, I have seen an incredible shift from people being enamored with technology to becoming enlivened by what the technology can do. This change in viewpoint has helped me to become a better member of society. Technology sets the stage for one's spirit and its creative output. I believe many others share this perspective.
Q - With such a broad topic, how did you decide which areas of science to cover?
A - The wealth of material was voluminous and the ways to approach its presentation equally huge. I settled on exploring those areas where I believe change occurred with the greatest impact on humanity. These areas included humanity's biological evolution over the millennia, society's cultural evolution through the centuries, and our first steps in the technological evolution of the most recent decades. In every chapter, I rely upon the lessons learned by individuals and societies to make the perspective come to life. Some events and experiences are mentioned in passing; others are described in some detail.
Q - How then did you organize your book?
A - 'A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes' is organized in three parts. In Part I, the focus is the biological and cultural evolutions from the appearance of Homo sapiens to the end of the colorful eighteenth century. The notion of a balanced society is introduced as well as the availability of surplus energy which improved society. In Part II, the focus shifts to the application of scientific knowledge and how technological innovation flourished in the nineteenth century. Science migrated from a leisure activity to a profession. Part III focuses on the material impact of science and the rapid technological evolution of the twentieth century. Some have asked, "What good is science and technology if it gave us the most violent and deadly century of all time?" While this question can be debated endlessly or dismissed as unfair, one perspective would be that technology advanced so quickly in the first half of the twentieth century, that our cultural immaturity prevented us from harnessing the benefits of these scientific advances. It has only been during the past fifty years that humanity has begun to minimize technology's potential use for destruction and leverage scientific advances for the greater good.
Q - What do you mean by a balanced society?
A - In my book, two models of society are reviewed; the centralized authority model and the distributed or shared authority model. To wit, Egyptian, Roman and Inca societies, and the ancient Greek, Byzantine and Western European societies are respectively explored. The more progressive and enduring civilizations have balance. This means they provide an equitable level of stability, fairness, and rich culture.
Q- What areas of scientific innovation do you review in Part II?
A - The new science of electricity appeared, forever changing the lives of individuals, and hence their society. The science of chemistry matured with its new found language and 'states of matter' to find immediate impact with people's personal and working lives. Biology evolved from a static plant and animal classification to a dynamic field of inquiry, jump-started by Charles Darwin's ground breaking work.
Q - What were some of these areas of rapid technological evolution examined?
A - In my book, I explore advances in transportation and communication, which have forever shrunk time and distance for social and business interactions.
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The triple mast ship was one of the most popular for long ocean voyages starting in the fifteenth century. This replica was photographed in Nassau, Bahamas in late 2004. |
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I also examine the rejuvination of physics and how it altered humanity’s view of time and space in the ages of flight, electronics, nuclear power and space travel.
Q - What do you view as some of the major changes that science and technology have brought to society?
A - The major changes include personal mobility, instantaneous connections, knowledge capture and sharing, an increasing quality of life for a greater proportion of the population, new energy sources, and sustainable democratic societies. These changes have been embraced by the majority of twentieth century society and it wrought significant changes at a pace unseen by humanity before. The mobility afforded by new modes of transportation and the power of instantaneous communications expanded the influence and participation of more people in the twentieth century. The affordable automobile and cost-effective airline transport enabled the personal mobility and individual freedom previous generations only dreamed of. Communication tools like the telephone, television, and networked computers enabled the barriers of time and distance to be obliterated. Voice contact, viewing of unfolding world events, and electronic mail (e-mail) were all possible through one or more electronic appliances that almost anyone had access to. Incredible amounts of power were needed to fuel the appetite of hundreds of millions of people who were beginning to view personal mobility and instantaneous communications as a birthright.
The wants of the grandparents had become the needs of the parents and the rights of the children. The third generation of the twentieth century often called the 'Baby Boomers' had achieved transcendence over space and time that the elite of ancient civilizations could never imagine.
And our notions of space and time were forever altered too, with the theory of relativity and the renewed vigor of physics. The very notion that time was not absolute and not relative, depending upon where you are, was just as shocking to society as was the theory of evolution. This theory of evolution overthrew the static idea of the fixity of the species in favor of a changing, dynamic evolution of all living things, less than fifty years before. On top of this change in looking at the world, people now had to pause and think hard about the relativity concept and the properties of a moving body experiencing time dilation and length contraction. This is pretty heady stuff for most of us.
Q - What do you view as one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today?
A - One of the greatest vulnerabilities of modern day society is the need for a steady, uninterrupted supply of power to fuel our current birthright of connected mobility and common consciousness. Technology has endowed most people with surplus energy to contribute to society. Now, we again turn to technology to ensure power from sources other than earth's precious fossil fuels can be harnessed to sustain not only balanced societies but a global civilization that is stable, fair, and rich in culture. Without energy, civilization cannot be sustained going forward. Look to renewable energy sources to play a greater role in feeding humanity’s energy appetite as we come to the second decade of the century.
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