'A World Perspective' Newsletter
Thank-you for your support last year in keeping the Newsletter vibrant and fun to publish. The emphasized topics of transportation and communication were quite a learning experience. The companion web pages will continue to be updated with perspectives as the year progresses.
Keep on reading!
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The newsletter, A World Perspective, extends ideas and adds further insight to many of the ideas found in my associated book. With the time pressures of the day and in the technical specializations in which we operate, there is precious little surplus energy available to us for leisure of our choosing. I trust that this monthly summary will reinforce and amplify specific scientific and technological issues that the reader can readily digest. To this effort, I believe the reader will find his or her surplus energy well spent.
The Sixth Year of A World Perspective
Themes: Computers and Physics
This year's two new segments will emphasize advances in computers and physics that have given unprecedented rise to how people interact in the 21st century and understand the world around them.November Newsletter Just Released!
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter addresses the question I was recently asked, “What is Perspective?” Please let me know if I’ve answered it.This month’s extended perspective tackles the issue of aviation from the point of view of pilots that flew during World War II and the Vietnam wars.
| The subject of history and the lessons learned from past armed conflicts held no sway over the youth in their late teens and early twenties. I suspect this state of affairs has always been the case, except for those times when a country immediately enters or exits a conflict. My suspicion is that interest spikes at these times of crisis, especially at the beginning of a crisis. To the right: An aerial view of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack, 7 Dec 1941 - photo taken from a Japanese aircraft. |  |
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The ‘Innovator of the Month’ is Charles Babbage, recognized as the designer of the first computer.
Enjoy!
The Fifth Year of A World Perspective
Themes: Transportation and Communication
The past year's two segments emphasized advances in transportation and communication that have given rise to globalization, connectedness of people, and a transformation of how people interact in the 21st century.October Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter looks at the two prevailing cultures in 21st century society. See what they are.This month’s extended perspective tackles the issue of stem cell research.
| Neurons derived from stem cells that were once skin cells are shown. Image courtesy of Oregon Health and Science University. |  |
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In one of this month’s News Tidbits, we highlight botnet as bad software, called malware, that takes control of multiple computers simultaneously. At UC Berkeley in California, innovator Dawn Song has developed a program that defeats malware through simulated software analysis. Her program, BitBlaze, automatically finds security flaws in a computer’s operating system (OS), generates a filter to protect against invading malware, and gives way to the vendor’s security patch when it becomes available.
Ms. Song’s proactive approach avoids the reactive work associated with one-by-one fights with the latest viruses. She envisions a future where a malware’s spread is automatically capped. Ms. Song’s technology has already been used in the development of Google’s Chrome browser.
September Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter looks at preserving the Internet – see why?This month’s extended perspective tackles the issue of ethnicity and gender in ancient Egypt. Dr. Saleh’s work is featured, covering an intermediate period between kingdoms, which represents a period of instability and transition. Furthermore, her analysis is during the third intermediate period, which also reflected a certain loss of centralized control by the ruling elite.
This is an exciting time in human history as the stability and order within ancient Egypt was coming under attack. The idea of change, sowed by an emerging Greek culture, was threatening Egypt’s status quo. This is a theme Rob addresses in Part I of A World Perspective through 21st Century Eyes. Another scholar, Charles van Doren writes, “[The Egyptians] feared and hated change, and they avoided it wherever possible.” The beginning of the end to ‘tyrannical’ rule in Egypt began with the idea of ‘change is for the better’ during the end of the third intermediate period.
| Women seen in stelae, courtesy of Saleh. |  |
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One of the two news tidbits highlights NASA’s Aqua satellite, launched in May 2002, which is able to detect the fluorescent red light emitted by ocean phytoplankton. However, Aqua does a lot more than this. I contacted Steve Graham of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for more information. He provided a comprehensive IEEE Special Issue on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua Mission. This technical journal highlights the comprehensive functions of Aqua, the second satellite launched as part of NASA’s EOS program. Its sister satellite, Terra, launched in December 1999 measures land characteristics and both satellites together measure the health of the planet.
The emphasis of Aqua is on water in the atmosphere. It carries six instruments that operate across the visible, infrared, and microwave radiation bands. Three of the six instruments work together to form an integrated cross-track-scanning temperature and humidity sounding system:
1. Atmospheric Infrared Sounding (AIRS),
2. Advanced Microwave Sounding Units (AMSU), and
3. Humidity Sounder for Brazil (HSB).
As the third instrument’s name indicates, the Aqua satellite is an international collaboration of NASA and the countries of Brazil, for example, and Japan. The fourth instrument was built in Japan and operates in the microwave band:
4. Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E),
5. Cloud and the Earth’s Radiated Energy System (CERES), and
6. MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS).
The six instruments together deliver up to 89 Gb of data each day. Aqua orbits earth in a sun synchronous, polar orbit, once every 98.8 minutes at an altitude of 705 km.
Stay tuned for more results as Aqua explores the global hydrologic cycle and its role in the earth’s climate cycle.
August Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter looks at critical thinking and if our educational system is instilling this skill set in our graduates.The perspectives tackle lasers and voting systems.
The perspective on lasers is based on a talk given by JDSU’s head of R&D in late 2007.
| On October 18th, 2007, I attended a talk on lasers presented by Dr. William Grossman, JDSU’s Director of Research and Development for the company’s Santa Rosa and Milpitas labs. He delivered his remarks in the Cerent Engineering Lab at the Sonoma State University. Grossman is involved with commercial development of lasers through his Santa Rosa lab working on both blue lasers and fiber lasers and the Milpitas facility developing ultraviolet lasers. |  |
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The second perspective shows how mathematics has a lot to say about fairness in voting.
This may seem surprising, until you realize that math is not just an objective language devoid of feeling. The same process of analyzing phenomena in the language of mathematics, such as James Clerk Maxwell’s four equations describing the nature of light and the propagation of radio waves, is also being used to understand the causes of a myriad of social problems.
The 'Innovator of the Month' is Henry Ford.
In America 1908 (2007), Jim Rasenberger writes, that no invention after 1908 “would transform the country more thoroughly and rapidly than the internal combustion engine.” Henry Ford’s Model T “brought the automobile age to the masses and turned America into the first true automobile nation.” Ford believed in affordability for the working man and simplicity of operation in a mass production environment to ensure costs could be kept under control. His decisions leading to the moving assembly line were advanced by his “all-American political philosophy of democratic consumerism. Whereas socialists wished to level the rich, Ford intended to give the masses the means to live as if they were rich.” He achieved his goals with the most popular car ever built, the Model T.
July Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter looks at the concept of biocentrism and its relevance to the Standard Model of physics.This month's extended Perspective reviews the Standard Model.
| "...existing electromagnetic interactions provide a constant balance in nature for the stability of matter. If the force duality of electricity and magnetism were greater, the ability for the chemical bonding process to spontaneously occur would be disrupted. In fact, elements heavier than boron would be unstable. Meanwhile if the electromagnetic field strength were lesser, chemical bonding would be unable to support life chemistry. The fine balance maintained by the universe ensures a level of stability over time." |  |
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June Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter looks at the concept of personal entertainment, with the tight coupling of television, the personal computer, and the entertainment establishment.Perspective 1 tackles the issue of the human brain as a duality of computers.
| Descartes' theory did not lead to quantitative predictions, and disappeared in favor of Newton's Law of Gravity. Even Descartes' famous countryman Voltaire, wrote, that “Newton is a sage who offered genuine reasons and palpable evidence for his cosmology. Descartes' vortices are unreal whereas Newton's scheme of gravitational attractions is demonstrable.” |  |
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Perspective 2 addresses the “hard to imagine” theoretical concept of String Theory. At the May 30th public presentation of String Theory and Faith, Rob received some favorable feedback from an attendee: “Rob, I thought your talk today was very interesting. I read Brian Greene's book The Elegant Universe (2003) and am quite interested in the debate that you highlighted; is there or is there not strings and what does it mean? I loved the way you brought in faith, as in, are we going to just hang around with faith until it gets proved, or not proved? Good metaphors for lots of thought. Personally, I think they are there and like Einstein, we'll have to wait to SEE it… Linda.”
| In String Theory, higher spatial dimensions were curled up tight at the time of the Big Bang. |  |
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May Newsletter
This month's introduction looks at the Internet conspiracy. Is this real or the marginalized viewpoint of a paranoidal group of technologists?Koslowsky Korner returns with a feature penned by Lindsay Koslowsky called the Geography of Time.
| Lindsay recently won first place in a blog rant, entitled Why Vegetarianism, in a contest sponsored by the California Writers Club – Redwood Branch. Be sure to check it out: Why Vegetarianism |  |
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Perspective 1 tackles the intriguing question of the chemistry behind Kimberly-Clark’s training pants. Chemistry, for toddlers of the world, manifests itself in sorbitol-inundated diapers. Sorbitol is a type of sugar artificially produced and found in nature. See how it works in diapers and more.
Perspective 2 looks at the discovery of a strange new particle.
| Fermilab’s particle accelerator has unexpectedly discovered a new subatomic particle. It follows none of the conventional rules for making matter and may lead to the writing of a new playbook. Dubbed Y(4140), reflecting the particle’s measured mass of 4140 Mega-electron volts (MeV), it did not come into existence by an assembly of quarks, the basic material for producing other atomic material such as neutrons and protons. It appeared by some other means. Image courtesy of Fermilab. |  |
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This month's featured scientist is Philo T. Farnsworth.
He is now known as the “Father of Television.” In 1987, Albert Abramson, author of The History of Television, wrote, “At this time [1928], Philo Farnsworth had the only operating camera tubes in the world. Yet, to this day, Farnsworth’s pioneering efforts have gone relatively unknown and unappreciated.” By the summer of 1929, Farnsworth had built “the first all-electric television system in the world.” The flurry of books released in 2002 sought to redress this imbalance brought about by RCA Corporation’s revisionist history practices during the 1930s and 1940s. Furthermore, Broadway got into the act in 2007 with an Aaron Sorkin play called “The Farnsworth Invention,” which highlights the struggle between the lone inventor and a large corporation. The play closed in March 2008. Jimmi Simpson played Philo T. Farnsworth and Hank Azaria played David Sarnoff.
April Newsletter
This month's introduction looks at the Year of Science - 2009.Perspective 1 looks at Mathematics, Geometry, and Gaspard Monge.
| Visual methods, such as the graphical plots of Monge, brought artists and scientists closer together in a working relationship. The result of their collaboration in communicating scientific observations, natural phenomena and experimental results brought the public closer together with the scientific community. This had the positive effect of reducing the fear of the unknown, showing the principles of how practical inventions worked and shifted the emphasis of education from theology to the arts or natural philosophies. Image courtesy of Wikipedia. |  |
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Perspective 2 looks at the issue of web site security and privacy.
| The synthesis of computers and the Internet over the past fifteen years has led to a massive collection and subsequent use of personal data. On the positive side of the ledger, this information has been leveraged in ways that make our lives easier, simpler, and more productive. On the negative side of the ledger, fraud can occur. In that case, government focuses on punishment rather than prevention. Penalties are so severe that companies have a strong incentive to comply with recently introduced state-sponsored “breach notification” laws. Image courtesy of Scan Alert, which was subsequently acquired by McAfee. |  |
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March Newsletter
This month's introduction looks at the beauty of numbers. Considering the ugliness of budget numbers across almost all governments and industries, it is time to look at the beauty of numbers for a change.Perspective 1 looks at the state of the American counter-culture movement.
| One movement is to expand communication connectivity beyond "Internet" and "bloggers" to include the triumvirate power of “search engines” embodied in Google, social networking sites found in Facebook, and individual creativity expressed on YouTube. Image courtesy of Facebook. |  |
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Perspective 2 looks at the power of engineers affecting societal change.
| Technology and the majority of its products (e.g. electricity) make society more organic through their acceptance and subsequent integration. The experience of a static society was demonstrated by the rigidity of Ancient Egypt. |  |
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Perspective 3 looks at individual choice.
| Many people are brought up to be dependent on authority, usually parental or institutional, or be tightly controlled by those with a pathological need for dictatorial domination. |  |
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February Newsletter
This month's introduction looks at the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting. The cutover day was supposed to be February 17th, although political moves in Washington DC delayed it until June 2009.This month's Perspective reviews the railway experience of Northern California and recent trends in the average income level of Americans.
| Kelly Payne is shown here on an abandoned rail line in Northern California. In other place, a new rail system linking Sonoma and Marin counties is proceeding after a voter-approved funding proposition moved the project forward. |  |
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January Newsletter
The January issue is in the mail for our hardcopy readers. If you would prefer an electronic copy (PDF file) please let us know. Most subscribers have been renewing in favor of electronic distribution.This month's introduction looks at the question of children's use of cell phone technology.
Perspective 1 looks at the use of nanotechnology in the development of solar cells.
| Dr. Homer Antoniadis talked about Innovalight’s novel approach to producing solar modules. Image courtesy of Innovalight. |  |
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Perspective 2 looks at the question of using toxic materials in the production of materials used by humans.
| In terms of the medical and safety impact of recalled products, there is growing consumer backlash at products made with toxic materials such as lead and chlorinated solvents. The risks for cancer are too high and people are looking for alternatives to both products made with such ingredients and products labeled made in China. The Romans used lead to move water and many died young of lead poisoning. This is an image of a Roman bath in Bath, England. |  |
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December Newsletter
This month's introduction ties in with the power of technology, such as Apple TV, to threaten an entire industry, in this case, the Cable TV business.December's perspective looks at the reemergence of electric vehicles in society, courtesy of Tesla Motors.
| Numerous macro- and micro-drivers have led to a resurgence of investment in electric vehicles or EVs. Some of these include the green movement, increasing tailpipe regulations, improvements in battery technology and energy storage, and many more. All of these drivers led to a convergence to pure EVs. The objective is to decouple transportation from fossil fuels. Demand exists because the current gas-electric hybrid market is growing from 356,000 units shipped in 2007 to a forecast of 854,000 shipping in 2011. Image courtesy of Tesla Motors. |  |
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November Newsletter
This month's introduction ties in with the notion of going global. Lindsay Koslowsky took a survey of products within the Koslowsky household in the summer of 2008. This survey was done as part of a school assignment. Any guess as to which country produces the most household goods for our home? How about your home?November's perspectives look at the contributions of the laser to society.
Perspective 1 reveals how lasers are used to kill viruses.
| Work on laser development in the field of crystal lattices revealed that the ability of excited light to vibrate and crack a lattice could be used to shatter the outer coat, or capsid, of a virus. Image courtesy of University of Arizona. |  |
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Perspective 2 captures the thoughts of one of the inventors of the laser, Dr. Charles H. Townes, at an event recently sponsored by the IEEE.
| Townes observed that universities first built the masers, while industry first built the lasers. This dynamic was simply due to the fact that industry was interested in deriving profits from new technology. Consequently, it was Hughes Research Laboratories and their employee Theodore Maiman that built the first laser. His ruby laser became operational on May 17, 1960. From here, others built upon this progress and incorporated Gordon Gould’s concept of Q-switching to maximize laser output power. |  |
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The Fourth Year of A World Perspective
Themes: Astronomy and Medicine
- November 2007 to October 2008
October Newsletter
This month's introduction addresses non-fiction writing. Writing based on facts is much more compelling than many opinion pieces. In this vein, many of the perspectives I bring to you each month are based on a combination of research, technical meetings, or interviews with experts in the area. Immersion in the history of the story is imperative. The writer becomes one with the event and can then faithfully present it to the reader. I trust this depth of investigation is of value to you.The news tidbits look at the placement of wind turbines off coastlines, Germany’s continued desire to rid itself of nuclear power plants, and an update on our current sunspot cycle.
October’s perspectives look at the role Louis Pasteur had as a scientist to improve the life of people all around the world and the power of medicine as embodied by Petaluma’s own Oculus, a biopharmaceutical company.
Perspective 1 addresses Pasteur in terms of his role in the fields of polarization, pasteurization, and more.
| The field of chemistry became profitable in the nineteenth century and grew rapidly from there. Through Louis Pasteur's (1822-1895) work on microorganisms, the fermentation industry benefited and the public became aware of the importance of personal hygiene. The resulting demand for soap led to pressure for greater supplies of alkali. Demand was satisfied, in part, through the production of synthetic alkali introduced by large companies such as the United Alkali Company formed in 1890. This offshoot of an investigation by Pasteur is one of many such wonderful directions his work sent entrepreneurs in search of profitable pursuits. Image courtesy of wikipedia. |  |
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Perspective 2 examines the power of medicine as defined by a Petaluma, CA biopharmaceutical company.
| Biocompatible products provide an effective alternative to both antibiotics and topical antiseptics for fighting infections. A major technical differentiation of microcyn is its lack of toxicity, making it safe for humans during an anti-bacterial wash. Microcyn is similar to a saline solution and is produced using a water-intensive manufacturing process involving electrolysis. In the medical community it is often referred to as superoxidized water. Image courtesy of Occulus. |  |
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This month's featured scientist is John Dalton.
An excellent biography about John Dalton was written by Elizabeth C. Patterson in 1970, “John Dalton and the Atomic Theory: The Biography of a Natural Philosopher.” This book will be of particular interest to our English readers as author Patterson describes the living conditions for two classes of society in Manchester during the Industrial Revolution, a period spanning the life of John Dalton. This background provides a “sense of place,” an important aspect in writing any good biography.
Another excellent biography, about Louis Pasteur, was translated from the original French text of author Patrice Debre. He wrote “Louis Pasteur” in 1994 and bases most of the narration on the original notebooks of Pasteur. Author Debre highlights that Pasteur “believed that one of the steps in the teaching of science was the study of the life of great scientists, that is to say, the history of their scientific work.” Koslowsky couldn’t agree more. This newsletter, in part, studies some of the scientific works of the world’s great scientists.
September Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter, “Moonshine,” is timely as grapes in northern California’s wine country begin to be harvested for the next yield of fine California wines. The link between the phases of the moon and the fermentation process is explored.This month’s news tidbits look at gallium nitrade as a replacement for silicon as the material used in electronics, Britain’s trial of tidal power, and the planned space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
September’s perspectives look at two of the orbital parameters affecting the earth’s orbit and the associated climate change.
Perspective 1 addresses the phenomenon of precession or the wobbling of earth in space.
| Precession is the phenomenon causing the Earth to wobble about on its axis, just like the spinning of a top. Consequently, the solstices and equinoxes occur earlier with each passing year. Precession image courtesy of NASA. |  |
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Perspective 2 examines obliquity or the tilt of the earth in space.
| The earth’s orbit and orientation around the sun affects how solar energy is received. Obliquity is the degree of the earth’s tilt as it completes its daily rotation and yearly revolution around the sun. Obliquity image courtesy of NASA. |  |
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August Newsletter
The introduction to this month’s Newsletter revolves around finding answers to the unanswerable. A nineteenth century example is presented. We also pay homage to National Inventors Month, established in 1995.This month’s news tidbits look at dental insurance in America and how the Space Shuttle reenters earth’s atmosphere.
This month’s extended perspective looks at the history of star maps and reflects how technology has improved our mapping and understanding of the heavens.
| There are two types of astronomical diagrams employed through the ages. The first is the cosmological diagram, which provides perspective how humans conceptualize the environment. Second, is the constellation map that represents the stars themselves and information on how to locate them. The stars in the heavens were closely tracked in the ancient times because of their predictive quality to define the seasons. In ancient Egypt, this took the form of determining the time when the Nile River would flood and in China, heavenly motions portrayed omens, both good and bad. Dürer's celestial maps were the first ever published. The image to the left is courtesy of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. |  |
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July Newsletter
The theme of this month’s Newsletter revolves around the need for higher education and more trained engineers to fill the demand for high-tech jobs.Two News Tidbits highlight the affect of electric fields on weather and the ranking of the world's megacities.
Perspective 1 looks at the pace of technological change.
| Technological evolution moves at a breakneck pace as Alvin Toffler popularized in his book ‘Future Shock,’ by building on Mead’s principle of a cofigurative society. |  |
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Perspective 2 looks at the impact of the solar wind on global warming.
| One theory posits that the solar wind and its associated magnetic field alters earth’s cloud cover and adjusts the atmosphere’s water vapor content, which leads to the steady temperature rise known as global warming. This type of global warming is caused by a stream of plasma, or high-energy charged particles, propelled from the sun’s upper atmosphere. |  |
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June Newsletter
The theme of this month’s Newsletter revolves around the 25th anniversary of the Compact Disc (CD).Two News Tidbits highlight the advances made in determining the age of the Universe and the imminent replacement of the DVD with a different version of DVD.
An extended Perspective looks at the role of science in the Middle Ages.
| The mechanical arts that emerged included agriculture, hunting, textile manufacture, medicine, navigation, and armament. As the thirteenth century progressed, natural philosophy validated technology by demonstrating the need for geometry by carpenters and masons, and the necessity of astronomy for navigators. Water wheels were used to provide energy. This image shows Grant's Mill in Winnipeg Canada as a later example of the popular water wheel used in agriculture. Photograph courtesy of Darryl Jones. |  |
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May Newsletter
The theme of this month’s Newsletter revolves around the importance of girls entering the fields of science.Three News Tidbits highlight the advances made in fighter jet avionics, toxic chemical detection, and the opening of the Global Seed Vault.
Perspective 1 looks at the synthesis of our biological and cultural evolution.
| The domestication of fire was a major advancement for humanity in its desire to build settlements. Applied to food, the source of human energy, cooking is considered one of the most important milestones in our cultural evolution. Fire was needed to transform organic matter into foods that were more digestible. Boiling the hard kernels of rice made it easier on the teeth to chew. Roasting meat killed any bacteria making it easier on the stomach to digest. The practice of cooking was found in every large tribe and civilization that ever appeared on earth. In fact, cooking is considered by many anthropologists to be more characteristic of Homo sapiens than the emergence of language. |  |
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Perspective 2 addresses advances made in waterpower. Grant's Mill in Winnipeg, Canada represents an undershot water wheel.
 | Rotating waterwheels powered the nation’s first industrial cities until the opening of canals brought cheap coal to the mills of the Midwest in the mid-nineteenth century. |
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Feedback on the April Newsletter
One reader writes:
...speaking of planetary eccentricity...We have entered sunspot cycle 24, which is good news for radio propagation. While the entire cycle is about 11 years long, the next sunspot cycle maximum is scheduled for 2011-2012. [Please visit these web sites for more information:]
http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/01/07/100/
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2847.htm
Sunspot maximums are great for very low power communications. The ionosphere does all the work! This will be the first sunspot cycle that I will be able to experience since getting re-licensed [as a ham operator] a few years ago. I am looking forward to it.
[Sunspots are] not all fun and games. "During an active solar period, violent eruptions occur more often on the sun. Solar flares and vast explosions, known as coronal mass ejections, shoot energetic photons and highly charged matter toward Earth, jolting the planet's ionosphere and geomagnetic field, potentially affecting power grids, critical military and airline communications, satellites, Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, and even threatening astronauts with harmful radiation. These same storms illuminate night skies with brilliant sheets of red and green known as auroras, or the northern or southern lights."
April Newsletter
The theme of this month’s Newsletter revolves around the importance of video being used to “prove the story.” We have become, what I call, the “Missouri Nation.” The use of video is most prevalent in the current U.S. political campaign as past events involving both Democratic candidates Clinton and Obama have hit the airwaves. Video footage is proving to be a key element of the historical record. The same can be said of footage captured in the world of astronomy and space flight as images of an avalanche on Mars have been captured, building of the space station orbiting the earth are documented, and more.Three News Tidbits highlight the status of the Voyager spacecraft, potential security risks of mathematics, and an update on Apple Computer's "Spotlight" feature.
Perspective 1 looks at the orbital parameter of eccentricity.
| Astronomer Johannes Kepler discovered that the planets travel in an elliptical orbit. The parameter of eccentricity determines how circular or how oval a planetary orbit is. |  |
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Perspective 2 addresses the need and availability of active water management systems to help conserve a natural resource becoming more and more valuable as time goes by.
 | Satellites are used to monitor weather conditions and soil conditions and then determine when to turn automated irrigation systems ON or OFF. |
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Perspective 3 is a fun application of calculus on the human throat to determine the speed of air passing through the trachea.
March Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the rise of a new language, BACN, on the World Wide Web. It comes in handy for all of those text messagers out there.Three News Tidbits highlight the Apple iPhone, the media critics challenging pollsters, and the richness of volcanic soils.
Koslowsky Korner returns with Melissa Koslowsky and her thoughts on brain research and its applicability to education.
| Melissa Koslowsky is an elementary school teacher in northern California. |  |
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This month's perspective describes the relationship between mathematics and physics. The discussion ranges from probability and statistics to the Uncertainty Principle.
 | Rolling the number 4 is an event or subset of the sample space. It is a set of possible outcomes that can be converted into algebraic equations. |
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February Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the rise of music on the World Wide Web as a companion to last months introduction that looked at video on the Web.Two News Tidbits highlight the major expansion to the International Space Station that Space Shuttle STS-120 delivered in the form of the Harmony module and astronomical observations of a star system in Cancer that may be harboring planets.
This month's perspective looks at the push for cleaner vehicles embodied in both gas-electric hybrids and fuel cell-driven automobiles.
| To the right is an image of three popular electric propulsion systems used by automobile manufacturers. |  |
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 | To the left, Melissa Koslowsky appears to be debating whether to cycle or take the gas electric hybrid (Prius) with its parallel propulsion design. |
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January Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the rise of video on the World Wide Web.Three News Tidbits highlight the survivability of bacteria in space, the 2007 Nobel Prize in Medicine, and details about the emptiest place in the Universe.
The first perspective looks at the early days of Industrial Chemistry.
| One of the early industrial chemical countries was I.G. Farben, based in Germany. The powerhouses of the early chemical industry were based in Germany. |  |
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The second perspective describes a bit more about the useful Bessel function employed by both mathematicians and engineers.
 | Bessel functions were first defined by Daniel Bernoulli and generalized by Friedrich Bessel. They are solutions y(x) of Bessel's differential equation shown here for an arbitrary real or complex number α. The most common and important special case is where α is an integer n, then α is referred to as the order of the Bessel function. |
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December Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the need for change to preserve a thriving society.Two News Tidbits highlight the second demotion of Pluto in less than a year and the orbital speed of the Space Shuttle.
The first perspective looks at some of the early telegraphs from the point of view of an English curator who has studied the history of the telegraph.
| "The instrument on show, and which you photographed, I have asserted to be a demonstration model made in about 1849 for a patent infringement trial and has been subsequently misidentified as one of the original 1837 instruments." - John Liffen |  |
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The second perspective describes a night at the planetarium.
 | The image on the left shows Polaris, the North Star, which is in the center of this time-lapse photograph, taken from the Lake Sonoma area in California. All other stars appear to rotate around it. However, it is the earth that is in motion. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Koslowsky |
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November Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the power of collaboration in today's society.The only News Tidbit in this issue explains how each flush of your toilet contributes to global warming.
We start our fourth year of AWP with a Koslowsky Korner featuring Lindsay.
| Lindsay shares with us a brief history of the discipline of astronomy, one of the most ancient of sciences. |  |
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This month's Perspective looks at climate change from the perspective of a scientist, Jill Nephew, a climatologist at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego.
 | The image on the left shows the ever-increasing concentration of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, which drives global warming. As Nephew tells us, it is impossible to isolate the Earth from the Sun when it comes to global warming. Look for articles by Koslowsky to be published in the soon to be released "Encyclopedia of Global Warming" on the Solar Wind, and earth's orbital parameters including its tilt, elliptic orbit, and precession that can contribute to global warming. |
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The Third Year of A World Perspective
Themes: Chemistry and Mathematics
- November 2006 to October 2007
Recently, I received a fair amount of feedback on my October Newsletter regarding the introduction on “Religion and Science.” Some of the feedback received was as follows:“A really good article. For your information, the language of the Greek philosophers was classical Greek in its various forms. The language of the New Testament was Koine Greek, [which was] the language of the common man of the first century. Each type of Greek is a bit different from the other with respect to [Jesus] Christ. Of course, Hebrew was used [to communicate too,] but the basic language used by Christ was Aramaic [as depicted by Mel Gibson in his movie about Jesus’s crucification], but the Greek Koine was the language used through out the Mediterrannean World. Your insight is basically correct and your article and your research is amazing and extremely informative.”
Another bit of feedback arrived:
“The Syriac language was also in vogue at Christ's time in the 1st century. In your article, your first sentence is challengeable. Not too many scholars would agree with it. The words 'rooted in' are too strong. Greek philosophical thought as well as Roman utilitarian and pragmatic thought all played parts in shaping the 1st century culture, as well as Egyptian and Barbaric thought in the good sense. See the information on the Essenes [a Judaic religious group], Hebraic Settlements [in the land of Canaan], and the whole Old Testament view of worship and society. It is true that Paul popularized the Christian faith as no other in the 1st century. Check out St. Paul’s education and upbringing. He was a Roman citizen and a Pharisee of the Pharisees, the highest ranking. Paul was both a solid Jew AND a Roman citizen, a cosmopolitan man. He planted the first Christian churches in many Mediterranean cities [during his travels]. Your piece does not take into account the complexity of the 1st century or the complexity of St. Paul himself. With respect to Christ, check out the Church year in any Lutheran hymnal to see how the Church interprets Christ for the world. [Note] that Christ was immersed in Hebraic family concepts and in the Essene community as a young man, apart from the Greek and Roman influences. Also note the great Lutheran theologian Paul Tillich, who tried to bridge the chasm between Philosophy and Theology. Some say that he halfway succeeded while others say that he did not succeed. Your idea is great to get some kind of synthesis between science and religion. Keep up the attempt and effort.”
October Newsletter
The newsletter introduction addresses the fact that religion and science share a common heritage, rooted in Greek philosophical traditions.News Tidbits include details on protecting personal information and a comparison between solar energy and pyramid building.
Perspective 1 looks at the Inca and quinine.
| The Inca used quinine as a medicine. During work in the nineteenth century to synthesize quinine, artificial color dyes were discovered by Sir Henry Perkin. |  |
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Perspective 2 addresses the Inca and the use of the khipu for mathematics.
 | Knots in the khipu define the language of mathematics and maybe more. The khipu is an early form of data storage used by the Inca. |
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Perspective 3 looks at the evolution of the hard disk drive over the last fifty years or so. A more detailed analysis can be found oon the "Innovator's" web page.
| A 5 1/4" floppy disk drive was used in PC products of the 1980s. Here, the internal guts of an IBM PCJr hard drive are shown. |  |
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September Newsletter
The newsletter introduction raises the concern of politics getting in the way of conducting pure science. The two major cold war combatants, Russia and the U.S., both apear to be medling in the pursuit of scientific investigations. Politics and science do not mix.News Tidbits include details on acceptance of mobile phones, the UN ranking of best countries to reside, a view of the "No Child Left Behind" effort, and the affects of sitting to close to the television.
This month's extended Perspective looks at solar energy and how it has arrived on the scene in a big way - especially if that scene is Germany, Japan, and California.
| Solar panels along a highway in the Netherlands. |  |
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August Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on green roofs popping up across America, video eyewear, recognition for Dr. Frances Allen, the close call we had with asteroid 2004 XP14, and the number of people who have never had a negative experience with customer service.This month's Perspective 1 shares the story of Bing Crosby and his role as an early venture capitalist in giving rise to the video cassette recorder. Part 1 of the story is found in the previous July issue of the Newsletter.
| "Crosby was a user of technology, eager to pre-record his radio programs. The crooner disliked the regimentation of live broadcasts, preferring the relaxed atmosphere of the recording studio." |  |
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 | Archaeologists identify mummified remains by interpreting the cuneiforms and hieroglyphics of the ancients. |
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Perspective 3 looks at the power and dangers of the chemical compound Benzene.
July Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on the travels of Mariner 4 in the 1960s, the American scientific community, and the twin drivers for video content on the Internet.This month's Perspective shares the story of Bing Crosby and his role as an early venture capitalist in giving rise to the video cassette recorder. Part 2 of the story is found in the upcoming August issue of the Newsletter.
| Fred Pfost, one of the creators of the first magnetic tape recorders for video playback is shown here recalling his experiences during the 1950s. At that time, Pfost was part of the Ampex team developing video recording technology for the broadcasters. |  |
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Enjoy the poem by Ashley Koslowsky called, "A Dream in Darkness."
June Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on how scientists are using Claude Monet's paintings to determine the pollution content of the air at the turn of the 20th century in London, the use of MEMS in the Wii game controllers, and the use of the Internet for washers and dryers.Perspective 1 addresses computer animation - past, present, and future.
| Perspective 2 looks at the common chemical, ammonia water (or ammonium hydroxide), and its role in our lives today. |  |
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May Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on how scientists are using pencil lead to test Einsten's theory of relativity, the use of computers in toothbrushes, and the status of the twin rovers on Mars.Perspective 1 shares the story of how four Santa Rosa Junior College female professors beat the odds to become "women in science."
| Perspective 2 looks at the chemistry of powdered non-dairy creamers. You may want to consider using real cream or milk for your coffee or tea instead. |  |
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April Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on thought-controlled robots, solar-powered swimsuits, and how Stradavari chemically-treated his violins.  | Koslowsky Korner returns with a perspective from Melissa Koslowsky on vegetarianism. |
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Perspective 1 looks at the power of mathematics in our day to day lives, while Perspective 2 examines a popular chemical compound, aluminum oxide.
March Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on Kazakhstan's recent public health success, space trash, and the warnings issued by gibbons in the wild.| This month's first perspective looks at the continued story of the extraction of petroleum from Alberta's oil sands deposits. This article is part 2 of a 2-part series. Rob recently interviewed a reservoir engineer at Petro-Canada for the latest on the extraction of oil from the oil sand deposits. |  |
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The second perspective provides a climate change update in the form of a discussion on what can be done by local, state, and federal agencies to reduce the impact of global warming. The event was hosted by California's 6th District Congressional representative Lynn Woolsey in August 2006.
February Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on music emitted by supernova explosions, robots in service to humanity, and the ability for ants to teach one another.  | This month's extended perspective looks at extraction of petroleum from Alberta's oil sands deposits. It is part 1 of a 2-part series. Rob worked for Petro-Canada as a summer intern in 1980 conducting numerical analysis simulations on electrical preheat of oil sand wellbores. |
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January Newsletter
News Tidbits include details on Japan's electronic toll collections, foot power used to produce electricity, the growing use of the Internet over reading for news, and positive trends for men shopping for women.  | This month's extended perspective looks at the Cartier Wind Energy project in Quebec, Canada and briefly touches on Manitoba's St. Leon wind farm too. Shown is one of the wind turbines being installed at Cartier's Baie des Sables site in June 2006. Image courtesy of Cartier Wind Energy |
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In the November and December issues of A World Perspective, we touched on the academic, government, and industry views of nuclear power generation. We must remember, however, that the peaceful use of nuclear power emerged from the destruction sought by the military in the form of an atomic bomb. The peaceful intent of nuclear energy was a fallout of the horrific result of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Recently, Lisa O’Neill, the daughter of my wife’s cousin experienced Nagasaki’s ground zero in November 2006 and she had this to report:
“The most impressive part of Nagasaki was the A-Bomb Museum. Aside from the building itself being very beautiful (which is rare in Japan) it was a totally moving and informative experience. The main hall is dark but for mood lighting, projected on actual ruins from the bomb: a water tower, remains of a primary school and cathedral remains. The room is very eerie, with a featured clock, shattered from the explosion, with its' hands stuck on 11:02, when the bomb struck. Nagasaki was completely obliterated. Within a 1 km radius of the hypocentre there was a 100 percent death rate. I hadn't really understood the power of a nuclear bomb until then. People basically just melted away, and those who survived died one by one from horrible health problems, even 40 years later. Anthony and I spent most of our time in the 1 km radius of the hypocentre, so every once and a while I'd realize I would have died instantly, and so would have everyone around me. Several artefacts from the bomb were found, such as warped glass bottles, spectacles, watches and clocks (all showing 11:02) and a lunch box with carbonized rice in it,belonging to a young girl of whom they had the school picture of. It's crazy to think that people still want to posses these horrible weapons. Needless to say, the A-Bomb Museum left me quiet and subdued.
One of the many statues at the Memorial Peace Park, courtesy of Lisa O'Neill.
An appropriate follow up to the museum is the Memorial Peace Park. The Peace Park is uplifting with many statues donated from various countries. There is a large fountain and remains from a prison. The centrepiece is a very large statue of a man representing peace and the still present threat of nuclear war. Thousands of paper cranes strung together at peace sights all around the city are very colourful and admirable.”
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Lisa O’Neill also had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima, Japan, the first city to be hit by an atomic bomb in November 2006. She goes on to say that,
“Hiroshima's Peace Museum, just as Nagasaki's, had a lasting impact on me. These museums have forced me to understand the awesome destruction of their cities, and the posing threat of countries owning these arms. It is a simple message employed by the ruins left in the city, the poems and first hand accounts [of survivors], and the gruesome photos in which the recipient is left dumfounded and teary-eyed. The Mayor of Hiroshima has sent thousands of letters of objection and continues to send letters to each and every country that detonates an atomic bomb; unfortunately this task seems almost futile.
Following a familiar course, I visited the Peace Memorial Park, containing the "Flame of Peace", which will be extinguished once the last nuclear weapon is destroyed. The A-Bomb Dome [and the] remains of prefectural industrial building, floodlit at night, are a bold reminder of the bomb.”
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