: About Me

I am a technical writer with experience documenting anesthesia, automated diagnostic, bank trust accounting, point-of-sale and robotic systems.I have a BS in mechanical engineering from MIT, with a minor in economics. I've also dabbled as a freelancer in various subjects.

SOME OF MY PUBLICATIONS

"Benefits of Consensus Standardization to Small Business: A View from the USA," Quarterly Journal of the Canadian General Standards Board, #15 (Ottawa: CGSB, Summer 1987) pp. 5-20.

"Seven Ways Standardization Favors Small Business," Standardization News (Philadelphia: ASTM, December 1987) pp. 54-57.

"Small Business Participation in ASTM," Standardization News, (Philadelphia: ASTM, Jan. 1988) pp 56-60.

"Retrospective Cost-Benefit Analysis of the M.B.T.A. South Shore Rapid Transit Extension to Quincy," Mechanical Engineering Bachelors Thesis, MIT, Barker Engineering Library, Jan. 1978
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"Terminology Update: A Latin Lover's Lament," Strehlow, R. A., ed., Standardization of Technical Terminology: Principles and Practices (Philadelphia: ASTM, 1987) p. 117.

"-: A Tale of Two Spellings" - Strehlow, R. A., & Wright, S. E., editors, Standardizing Terminology for Better Communication: Practice, Applied Theory, and Results, (Philadelphia: ASTM, 1993) p. 314.

"-: Opposites Attract" - IBID, pp. 323, 333, 343.

"-: Sex and the Single Pronoun" - IBID, p. 334.

"-: The English Language Hall of Fame" - IBID, pp. 337, 340, 347.

"-: More Fun than 0.1 Cubic Meters of Monkeys" - IBID, p. 351.

"How to Speak to the Dying," Philadelphia Welcomat, August 17, 1994, p. 13.

"Determination of Resonant Frequencies of a Proposed Fuze Structure," Student Trainee Technical Symposium (Washington, DC: Harry Diamond Lab., US Army Materiel Command, August 1971)

MY WRITING PRIZES

First prize, Second International Essay Contest on the theme of "Standards and Small Business," Canadian General Standards Board, Hull, Quebec, Canada, 1986.

First prize, essay division, Methacton School District Annual Writing Contest, May 1997.

Honorable Mention in the Harry Diamond Laboratories Student Trainee Technical Symposium Undergraduate Division with Official Commendation from Army Materiel Command for "excellent technical paper," August 1971.

CURRENT INTERESTS

So far I've contributed two technical pieces and one political rant to Helium. The most challenging of the three was my first submission, "The Physics of a Toilet" (in Sciences/Physical Science/Physics). Learn about potential energy, pressure, the siphon effect and buoyancy, all while keeping your hands clean, warm and dry! (and watch for "The Physics of Auto Accidents" coming soon.)

I hope pieces like these might be useful to folks who are curious about Natural Law but uneasy about math. Physics as taught in school involves a lot of math because techies need it to make precise, detailed calculations. Many people don't take physics in school because they just don't want to "do the math." (Which is a shame, because physics is so useful generally. It not only explains how things work but also introduces a practical outlook that helps in many ways.)

But just because someone can't find the roots of a parabola, or the natural log of a sine, is no reason to say they're ignorant of Natural Law. The average person uses dozens of common-sense science facts every day and is familiar with most principles of "Newtonian mechanics" - what scientists call the physics of everyday life - whether they know it or not. For example - everyone knows that light things float and heavy things sink (that's "buoyancy") - and that things falling from three stories to the ground get much more smashed and dented than those that fall from the couch to the floor (that's "Potential and Kinetic Energy") - and that "slip/sliding away" happens easier on wet surfaces than on dry (that's "friction").

I'm currently researching a book on what I consider to be the most important intellectual task of our time: the reconciliation of Reason and Faith in our culture. I'm searching for a way to make peace between the proponents of science, rationality and skepticism on the one hand, and those of religion and belief, specifically biblical theism, on the other. I may not be able to change the opinion of the many partisan proponents of these two schools of thought. But I hope to show those who have not yet made up their minds a coherent world view, embracing and encompassing both, that might eventually prevail. The current working title is: "Quantum Faith: How to believe in God, Reason, Science, the Bible, and the future of America - all at once!"

The choice the opposing partisans in this debate thrust upon us is a false one. BOTH Faith AND Reason are required for a balanced and fulfilling life - in individuals, in nations, and in the world at large. Neither one alone is sufficient. Those who follow Faith alone, to the point where they must dispute the findings of science to justify their religion, are as misguided as those who follow Reason alone, and feel compelled to attack the faith of those who believe in God.

I recognize that Faith's main proponent, organized religion, has caused much of the evil in this world: persecution, war, murder, terrorism and thought control, to name a few. But so has Reason's main proponent, organized science, whom we can thank for the horrors of nuclear weaponry, bioterrorism, pollution, mechanized genocide, and traffic accidents, to name a few.

We're going to have just one opportunity to "save the planet" - to prevent the total environmental collapse of our civilization - during the coming century. The time and effort we spend debating which outlook is "the right one" could be better used actually preparing for the worldwide calamity that BOTH scientific authorities AND fundamentalist preachers say is coming.

The unprecedented tasks the next few generations will face will not be successfully achieved unless we can develop a national unity of purpose comparable to that reached during the Second World War. For that to happen, the proponents of Faith and Reason must learn to "agree to disagree," to respect each other, and to work together toward common goals.

My passion is ...

History as prologue; clear, concise prose; reconciling Faith & Reason

I know too much about ...

Nothing. You can never know too much (except about your spouse/lover/significant other)

My parents always told me ...

"Seek, and you shall find. Ask, and it will be given. Knock, and the door will be opened."

My childhood ambition ...

Fighting for truth, justice and the American way.

My favorite memory ...

Summer camp (pine forests, canoe trips, campfires & my first kiss)

Why I write ...

Because I must. It's in the blood.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Old black-&-white movies on Turner Classic Movies

My first job ...

Waiter at summer camp.

My best moment ...

The birth of my daughters, Megan Joy & Kara Pearl

My inspiration ...

The Old Testament prophets; the Carpenter of Nazareth; Thomas Jefferson; Newton, Einstein & Edison; and "The Master" ... Sherlock Holmes

Religion & Spirituality > Spiritual Insights Can humanity exist without religion

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Maybe humanity can exist without religion, and maybe it can't. The important question is: do we really want to find out? Anthropologists and historians have yet to discover any culture or civilization that was not based, in whole or in part, on religion, except for Nazism and Communism - the twin atheistic scourges of the Twentieth Century. Most historians agree that those two political systems represent the most corrupt, evil and destructive forces ever unleashed by humanity. One lasted 12 years before being destroyed by its enemies. The other remained for 70 years before imploding under ...

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