Education
B.S. in Geology, SUNY College at Oneonta (1975)
Graduate work in Geochemistry, The Pennsylvania State University (1976-77)
M.S., Ph.D. in Mathematics, University of Notre Dame (1987, 1991)
The Best Job in the World:
Associate Professor
Departments of Mathematics and Earth & Space Science
Saint Joseph's College
Rensselaer, IN 47978
(219) 866-6295
Send me e-mail at:
rogero "at" saintjoe.edu
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Courses for Fall 2009
ECN 210 -- Business/Economics Statistics
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ESS 111 -- Environmental Geology
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CORE 5 -- Humanity in the Universe I
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A few of my interests
- The search for renewable fuels that are alternate or supplemental to petroleum and coal
in view of the probable imminent onset of
Peak Oil.
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Even though there's no panacea, one shot answer to Peak Oil,
I'm especially fond of wind power,
although I'm quite aware that this is only at best a perfunctory
supplemental solution to a very complicated problem.
The
best ultimate solution will need to involve a technological control of
deuterium fusion via the proton-proton chain reaction, the same process which occurs in the core of our
sun and on which virtually all life on Earth is dependent. Short
term solutions most certainly involve more use of nuclear fission
(uh oh! the environmentalists' "N" word!) for electricity
generation. (For you hydrogen fuel cell buffs - you can't produce
hydrogen as a fuel for your fuel cells
without electricity. - OK, also from methane, but that's a fossil fuel.) Of course, we could burn our coal supply
to make electricity to replace petroleum, but coal is also a
non-renewable resource, and using coal at this rate will deplete its
supply over
something like 50 years instead of 200. As "they" say, there's no free lunch (well, maybe without controllable hydrogen fusion.)
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IMO, nuclear fission for electricity generation will need to be a prominent player in the advent of Peak Oil.
I'm also aware
this is an unpopular view among many of my colleagues in academia,
cf. the previous point.
- Electric "light rail" systems
for mass transit in large urban areas. Electric motors have some functional
advantages over internal combustion engines and produce no pollution at point-of-use.
- Delving into the interesting, complicated, yet depressing issue of Faith and Science --
more particularly, the so-called Creation-Evolution "debate."
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The promulgation of general science, including the basic knowledge of Earth systems and history,
in the sense that such is a proclamation of the beauty of Creation. For the curious reader,
I'm not a "creationist" in the use of the term as per current apologetic rhetoric.
Please explore some of my links below for more details.
Possibly Helpful Links Relevant to my Interests
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The American Scientific Affliation: The definitive resource for the Science-Faith
discussion for mainstream Christians |
Talkorgins.org: IMHO, the best
resource for answers to young-Earth creationist objections to Deep Time and biological evolution. |
| My essay
on the relationship between Faith & Reason from the perspective of a mathematics teacher
-- an excellent cure for insomnia ;-) |
Creation/Creationism Powerpoint presentation to a student group at SJC |
| Dr. Christopher Sharp's
most excellent and concise page contra the political - social - religious anti-science movement that is
termed Young Earth Creationism (YEC) |
Petroleum geophysicist
Glenn Morton's
testimony on why he left YEC. His webpage has excellent resources for
those interested in the origins issue. |
| An excellent essay on
Theologies of Evolving Creation
by my fellow ASA member Dr. Bob Schneider |
29+ evidences for
"Macroevolution" from TalkOrigins.org |
| A view of the
Cosmos from an extreme Biblical literalist perspective |
Miscellaneous Links
The problem with considering the "Intelligent Design Movement" as science
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I think scientist-believers are the most fortunate. We have the opportunity to explore the natural world
at a time in history where mysteries are being revealed almost on a daily basis. We have the opportunity to perceive
the unraveling of those mysteries in a special perspective that is an uncovering of God's grandeur.
This is a particularly wonderful form of worship.
- Francis Collins,
Ph.D., M.D., Head of the Human Genome Project
An old entry into the rhetoric wars on the origins issue/Biblical Inerrancy: "Scripture tells you how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go." -
Cardinal Baronius (1598), Cited by Galileo
Some Personal Links
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My family homepage,
the ultimate source for those obsessed with all things Doc O. (A
really scary thought, BTW.) |
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Here are some pics of my brother's most excellent
trolley
layout.
With the exception of the electric motors and
raw materials, everything was made from scratch. What's even more
amazing is that he has an outdoor rail system of over a quarter-mile. |
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If you're an afficianado of scripture and have a hankering to look up
a passage Biblegateway is a convenient place to look.
Don't be disappointed when you don't find the New American Bible
or the Revised Standard Version, since this site is run by more
"Fundamentalist" Protestants. Those Roman Catholic and mainstream
Protestant translations could just lead some poor soul astray. ;-) It's still a great resource as far as it goes. |
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If you like to wile away endless hours and wasting precious heartbeats
reading screed from the false dichotomous viewpoints of Fundamentalist Christianity or Atheism/Agnosticism,
then Theologyweb is the
place for you! If you look carefully, you'll find some old posts by a
frustrated and grumpy old poster using the login
name rogero. I'm not proud of this two-year episode of my
life, but somebody might find my exchanges edifying, and I'm glad to
be out of the game. Oi! |
Why modern "creationism" is not science
"No apparent, perceived or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology,
can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record." -- Section D4 of the
AiG Statement of Faith.
A cute icon defending "fine tuning" in Divine Design (as opposed to the "Intelligent Design" movement)
This is the greatest fear in my vocation
"Let not many of you become teachers,
my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (James 3:1 - NASB)
One of my favorite verses that addresses the totality of existence
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." --
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV-UK)
An example of Omphalos
This page was last modified on November 10, 2009 by RO
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha olam!
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