From: bob logan <<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: June 30, 2007 8:48:19 AM EDT (CA)
To: <mailto:fis@listas.unizar.es>fis@listas.unizar.es
Subject: Bob Logan's introduction to the FIS list
Dear, Cher, Caro, Liebe Colleagues
I am honoured to have been invited to this list and look forward to our
discussions. I was trained as an elementary particle physicist at MIT and
contributed to that field for a number of years. My most memorable result
was to show that elementary particles behave as Regee poles, i.e. they have
complex values of spin when the are exchanged virtually (1965). I became a
physics prof at the U. of Toronto 1968 where in 1971 I introduced a course
that I teach today called the Poetry of Physics and the Physics of Poetry
teaching physics without math and studying literature and art related to
science. It was then I began my career as an "intellectual tourists"
exploring the relationship of science and the humanities and the social
sciences. My journey has taken me into many different academic and
practical territories. My Poetry of Physics course caught the attention of
Marshall McLuhan with whom I collaborated for 6 exciting years researching
the impact of media of communications. This study led me to study the
impact of alphabetic writing on the development of Western culture, the
origin and evolution of language including speech, writing, math, science,
computing and the Internet. I also wandered into future studies, knowledge
management, collaboration studies, industrial design and systems biology. I
founded and operated with a spouse a company that engaged in computer
training, Web development and knowledge management consulting 1982 to 2000.
Along the way I became involved in Canadian politics as a policy advisor to
Prime Minister Trudeau and several cabinet ministers. I am currently a
professor emeritus, teaching one semester per year and actively pursuing my
interests all of which are consistent with the FIS project. I am interested
in the meaning of information which I believe has many different
manifestations. Along with a team headed by Stuart Kauffman we formulated,
based on our study of biotic information, the relativity of information,
i.e. the notion that information is not an invariant like the speed of
light but is a relative quality depending on the context in which it is
being used. We also concluded that the "meaning" of life (or living
organisms) is the propagation of their organization. I apologize for this
lengthy introduction to a 50 year career that began when I began my studies
at MIT in 1957. For more details and access to my most important papers and
the first chapter of most of my books please visit my Web site at
<http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/~logan>www.physics.utoronto.ca/~logan.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward with enthusiasm to our
conversations and interactions. You can reach me by email at
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bob Logan aka Robert K. Logan
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