Blog Archives

September 8, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

To attend, click the “Register” button at the time of the presentation. It will take you directly to the Zoom call.

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Main Presentation: 11:45 AM to 2:30 PM

Are Today’s Media De-Civilizing Us?

Bill Rosser

While internet communications have brought us immense benefits in convenience, power, and access, there are accompanying threats to what we might consider civilized life. This Lyceum Society presentation and discussion is meant to review a few of these threats and their possible consequences. Its purpose is to identify issues and consider how serious they may be, and what we might do to ameliorate the possible negative impacts. Issues include (1) normalizing the use of threatening language; (2) facilitating the power of extremist groups; (3) reducing socialization in favor of solitary activities; and (4) enabling misinformation and scams. All of them could lead to a more “decivilized” environment.

This review is not meant to contradict the possible cultural benefits also offered by advancing technology, such as increased cognitive abilities and more information availability.

Bill Rosser will lead the discussion after presenting a short article he published on these topics on substack.com. The article will be distributed to the Lyceum mailing list. Others may request a copy by email to the Lyceum secretary at mark.edelman@outlook.com.

Speaker

Bill Rosser retired from Gartner, Inc., a worldwide top-ranked advisory firm providing guidance to corporations regarding their use of information technology. As a Gartner VP and Distinguished Analyst, he spent 29 years writing, speaking and advising clients about effective use of IT. He studied Basic Engineering at Princeton University, and after work in telecommunications in San Francisco, returned to Harvard Business School and graduated with Distinction in 1962. In 1969 he formed his own start-up in data processing based on the new electronic cash registers, and after a merger, worked in strategic planning for Perkin-Elmer and Exxon Enterprises prior to Gartner. Today Bill is active as an architectural walking tour guide (Grand Central Terminal and the NoHo Historic District) and is a founding member of Reform Elections Now, promoting vital improvements in the election processes such as ranked choice voting. He has spoken to the Lyceum Society on various topics and has chaired our discussions of timely issues.

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.

June 2, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Initial Presentation: 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM

An Academy Post-Doc Presents

The Lyceum Society has always specially valued dialogue between our retired members and youthful members of The New York Academy of Sciences. On this date we’re pleased to host a talented Academy Post-Doc researcher, who will present an inspiring research project that they have done this year as a part of their involvement with the Academy’s research training program.

Main Presentation: 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Discussion: “The Most Rejected Generation” by David Brooks

Reference: David Brooks, “We Are the Most Rejected Generation,” New York Times, May 15, 2025.

Moderator: Herb Klitzner

Continuing the theme of dialogue between the generations, our second event will be a moderated discussion of David Brooks’ recent opinion column. In it he searingly described the crisis level of college youth desperation, frustration, and utter rejection because of sometimes 90% levels of rejection at the doors of entry (admissions), the doors of desired clubs in college that build the path to future success, the doors of outside internships, and getting a job after college.

We highly recommend that researchers and problem solvers read David Brooks’ beautiful and compassionate article about the iceberg sitting directly in the path of our youth today, in a time of already troubled waters. We can do no less than think about it, about what we and society can do, if we are truly interested in the dialogue between the generations and the prospect that many college students may have to forgo a career in science because of the new reality, which did not exist 10 years ago. This is an excellent time to become familiar with this problem, look at it from multiple angles, and discuss possible solution paths. That is one of our aims in the Lyceum Society, to be a meeting place for helping our institution and the larger society to develop the strongest action paths to a challenging and critical problem. Join us in this discussion if you can, whatever your professional background.

Speaker

Moderator Herb Klitzner has been a member of the Academy since 1970, when he served on the Board of Advisors of the then-existing Linguistics Section, where he had professional colleagues including several psycholinguists like himself. He had also become an accomplished scientific computer programmer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, where he assisted civil and soil engineers in a major way in modeling the process of constructing the innovative “bathtub” 7-block foundation perimeter of the WTC site.

Herb received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he majored in mathematics, which turned out to be his trustiest theoretical tool in creating scientific models of cognitive processes. His master’s degree and M.Phil were granted by the CUNY Graduate Center. His program concentration was in Computer Applications to Educational Psychology and Cognitive Modeling. While at the Graduate Center, his program allowed him to meet and hear the foremost voices in AI research and development and educational technology in America – Seymour Papert (inventor of the LOGO language and the concept of neural networks, which is basis of most AI today), Herbert Simon (the concept of Sciences of the Artificial) and many others. He also led educational technology fieldwork at several colleges in the CUNY system, including using AI methods. His biggest achievement was leading the design and creation of the pioneering CUNY/Baruch College computer for the blind, which served both CUNY and the city. It brought together all of the major “technology for the blind” inventions of the 1970s and offered them to thousands of blind people, for the next 43 years, with sensitivity and resourcefulness.

Next, moving to industry, Herb entered the field of technology market analysis and forecasting in 1980 and successfully predicted the next five years of the exploding but confusing personal computer market. Following this, in 1984, Herb and his wife Carol wrote the definitive book describing for parents the opportunities to Help Your Child Succeed with a Computer. In 2001 Herb pivoted to the music listening field and spent a year in partnership with Estonia Radio broadcasting unusual, eclectic combinations of many styles and cultures of music, which were enthusiastically received by their discerning audience and who wanted her new approaches. Today, Herb combines cultural and historical research with mathematical and “AI and Society” research, as well as catalyzing human development innovations. In 1979, he helped the White House plan innovative policy that supported the emerging field of “social technology” (e.g., technology for the blind). He is published in all these diverse fields, with research topics ranging from the history of tolerance (starting with The Lost Continent of Tolerance: Lithuania, the birthplace of his grandparents) to “Quaternions: The Phoenix Bird of Mathematics.” Writing the history of forgotten major achievements, like these two topics, is his greatest passion.

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.

May 5, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Initial Presentation: 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM

From Inside Chemistry Moving Outwards

Uldis Blukis

Inside Chemistry:

Studied it in high school and college (BS and PhD), taught in college mostly general and physical chemistry (co-author of physical chemistry textbook).

Outside Chemistry:

(a) Taught college level integrated science (first physical, last biological science) and science history. Researched metaknowledge.

(b) Began in 1965 as an amateur lobbyist of UN Member States. Was among the leading members of the Baltic lobby NGO BATUN. In 1991 became a diplomat in the Latvian Mission to the UN. In 2008-2018 became leading author of A HISTORIOGRAPHY OF BATUN 1965-91.

Main Presentation: 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Science is in Trouble and it Worries Me

Stuart Kurtz

I will use the presentation format that makes use of a YouTube video to introduce an interesting topic that will also generate ideas to discuss. The video is: “Science is in Trouble and it Worries Me,” by Sabine Hossenfelder, a prominent physicist and science communicator. It discusses increases in the numbers of scientists and papers and the decrease in their ‘economic’ results. It would be useful to view this video as preparation for the discussions. It is less than 23 minutes straight through. I will play the video and interrupt it at times for discussion of its various observations.

Speakers

Uldis Blukis, PhD, is professor emeritus, Brooklyn College, CUNY, where from 1960 to 1991 he taught chemistry, integrated science, and history of the scien­ce of matter. From 1966 to 1991, as a board member of the NGO United Baltic Appeal, Inc. he lobbied UN Member State Missions to support the restoration of the independence of the three Baltic States. 1991-1998 he was in the diplomatic service of Latvia as a representative to the UN. 1994-2000 he was a member of the UN Committee on Contributions. He is the co-author of a physical chemistry textbook, as well as of a series of short educational films, author and co-author of articles and reviews. His BS in chemistry is from the University of Illinois, Urbana.  His PhD in physical chemistry is from the University of California, Berkeley. Lyceum Society member since 2010. His most frequent contributions, roughly yearly, to Lyceum Society: i) presentations (mostly initial ones) on knowledge and ignorance, six about Nobel prizes), ii) finding outside speakers.

Stuart Kurtz graduated from MIT with an SB in Chemical Engineering and from Princeton with an MS degree in Polymer Engineering and an MA and PhD in Chemical Engineering.  He taught at RPI and in Brazil as Professor Titular in Materials Engineering.  This was followed by a research career in industry accumulating around 30 patents and publishing at least a few good papers.   He now focuses on Philosophy of Science and Physics and climbing mountains because they are there. He has spoken to the Lyceum Society many times; most recently in January 2018 he spoke on the topic: Lessons from Science: Lysenko, Velikovsky and the Demarcation Problem. In February 2018 he spoke on Geoengineering for Climate Change Mitigation. In April 2019 he spoke on Does Time Flow?  In February 2020 he spoke on Cold Fusion; in February and March 2021 he gave a 2-part presentation on the scientific accomplishments and biography of Fritz Haber. In February 2022 he spoke on the Murmuration of Starlings: Emergence and Patterns. In June 2022 he spoke on The 1980 Titan II Missile Accident. And in October 2022 he spoke on Entropy and the Direction of Time.

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.

April 7, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Initial Presentation: 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM

Becoming a Chemical Engineer: Two Stories

Philip Apruzzese and Stuart Kurtz

Stuart Kurtz and Philip Apruzzese will present how and what becoming Chemical Engineers has been for them from two similar beginnings that then followed divergent paths for many years. Each of these pathways had milestones, accomplishments, difficulties, and changes that enhanced their Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSA’s) across numerous academic, operational, interpersonal and organizational circumstances and situations.

Stuart Kurtz’s deep dive into early career multi-degree education and teaching both in the US and abroad formed a foundation for his later research and development accomplishments in industry.

In contrast, Philip Apruzzese immersed himself into the Plant Operations side of the pharmaceutical-industrial complex immediately after his graduation. These areas included large scale continuous and batch plant operations, sterile and non-sterile dosage forms and compounding as well as “high hazard” unit processes. His “chem engineer” role adapted to the evolution of his employer’s needs including process, project, FDA regulatory, labor, and management relations as well as EHS matters.

Main Presentation: 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Water: The Essential Component of our Inner Solar System*

* Fred John Cadieu, Water: The Essential Component of our Inner Solar System, American Journal of Modern Physics, 14, 37-43, 2025.

Of the four terrestrial planets of our solar system, Earth is the only one that developed mechanisms that allowed liquid water to be retained. Thus, Earth is the only terrestrial planet in our solar system that has the possibility for billion-year stability to allow evolution to work over a sufficiently long time for the evolution of intelligent life. The principal reasons for this are the presence of a magnetic field and plate tectonics that allow long term planet surface stability. The progression from an earlier state to what we see today was largely completed about 2 billion years ago so long term evolutionary development where possible should have proceeded. Mars is believed to have had surface water in this early stage but lost that as did Mercury and Venus. Volume changes upon the phase changes of water and carbon dioxide play a crucial role in driving the geology of Mars. The sublimation of carbon dioxide from solid to gas phase must play a crucial role in creating caverns and crevices below the surface if lifeforms are to exist on Mars. Simple lifeforms are then expected to exist below the surface of Mars.

Speakers

Philip W. Apruzzese (BE Chem. E., MS Technology Mgmt., CHMM) graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. He was employed in the pharmaceutical industry (Squibb, Beecham, Schering-Plough) for nearly 40 years, holding manufacturing operations, project, research pilot plant startup, and environmental compliance management positions. From 2010 to 2019 he was employed part-time as a Chem Eng/Environmental, health and safety consultant in addition to working seasonally as a Level C Official for USA Cycling racing events.

Since relocating to the Seattle area he has begun volunteer work with several non-profit community cycling/Recycling resources and advocacy organizations. Additionally he volunteers online with the Summit Old Guard an organization for retired business and professional men.

In April 2015, he spoke on Tour de France cycling performance enhancements – Post Lance/Post Drugs and in 2019 he presented on The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of lithium ion batteries and in 2021 presented on The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.

Stuart Kurtz is an accomplished expert in Chemical Engineering with a distinguished academic and professional background. He earned his SB in Chemical Engineering from MIT in 1963, followed by an MSc in Plastics Technology (1965), MA in Chemical Engineering (1967), and PhD in Chemical Engineering (1970), all from Princeton University. He began his academic career as a faculty member in Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at Rensselaer from 1969 to 1973 and later served as a Chaired Professor of Materials Science at Universidade de São Carlos in Brazil (1973-1975). He spent nearly three decades at Union Carbide, holding various technical positions and contributing to over 30 patents and 15 publications.

Fred J. Cadieu received BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Physics from the University of Chicago. About 140 papers have been published in the areas of higher order phase transitions, the synthesis of superconducting and magnetic films, the synthesis of permanent magnet films, and most recently in some areas of astronomy. He is currently an Emeritus Professor in the Physics Department of Queen College of CUNY. 

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.

February 3, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Initial Presentation: 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM

Language, Mind and the Growth of Civilization

Henry Kaminer

Thinking out loud about language and its relation to the development of the mind and the growth of civilization—a very broad topic for a brief presentation. However, these things are connected like a knitted woolen sweater. If you pull one strand, everything unravels. He will present the current controversy about the origin of language and offer his own hypothesis. It is derived from the principles of evolution, evidence from anthropology, and observation of the development of language in children. This leads to the role of language in thinking, that much admired activity that supposedly separates us from the lower animals. His discussion includes a tour through the mind at work and the role of language in mental processes.

Main Presentation: 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Anticipating Disasters: Climate and Weather Forecasts to Enable Early Action

Zinta Zommers

From fires in L.A. to Hurricane Helen, every year, millions of people face increasingly intense and frequent climate-related disasters. According to World Weather Attribution, 26 weather events analyzed in 2024 contributed to the deaths of at least 3,700 people and the displacement of millions. Since 2000, the United Nations has seen an eightfold increase in funding requirements for humanitarian appeals linked to extreme weather. However, as needs are increasing, so is the ability to predict the occurrence and impact of shocks such as droughts, floods, storms and disease outbreaks. This talk will explore how policy makers are taking advantage of forecasts to design “forecast-based finance” or “anticipatory action” systems. Anticipatory action involves the use of forecasts to release finance in days to months in advance of shocks. Since 2019, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has been advancing anticipatory action in the humanitarian system. To date, OCHA has disbursed over 89 million dollars to seven countries to help people take action before floods, droughts and cholera outbreaks. The talk will explore how such anticipatory action frameworks are designed, the impact of such early action,  forecast challenges and research gaps.

Speakers

Zinta Zommers is Vice-Chair of Working Group II (Impacts and Adaptation) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She is also the Climate Science Lead for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, where she works to help address humanitarian needs from climate shocks, strengthening early warning and anticipatory action systems. Zinta has held a variety of roles with the UN, including as part of the UN Secretary General’s Climate Change Team and as a member of the UN Chief Scientist’s Office. She has authored and edited two books on climate change adaptation and early warning systems and was a lead author of the IPCC’s 2019 Special Report on Land and the 2023 Synthesis Report. Zinta has a M.Phil. in Development Studies and a D.Phil. in Zoology from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and she was a Visiting Fellow at Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania, from 2021 -2023.

Henry Kaminer was born 90 years ago in a small village in the East Bronx in New York City. He is still trying to escape into the modern world. Dr. Kaminer was excited about science since childhood. His years at Bronx High School of Science opened an exciting world for him, and he learned as much from his fellow students as from the faculty. At City College of New York he tried to study molecular biology, but it had not yet been invented. He worked in pharmacological chemistry and then went to medical school. He narrowed down his interest to what was most confusing and least understood. Therefore, he has developed his professional career in psychiatry and its impact on other fields of study.

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.

January 6, 2025 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM ET

Presented by the Lyceum Society

Welcome and Introductions: 11:30 AM to 11:45 AM

Initial Presentation: 11:45 AM to 12:45 PM

Modern Technoscience: Youth to Maturity?

Uldis Blukis

During technoscience’s 17th to 20th century youth it was strongly biased toward the benefits of technoscientific innovations. Their malefits were ignored. Only innovation-caused clearly maleficial events, some arriving quite late, forced dealings with them.

I hypothesize that in an ever more complex technoscience a maturing stage may be arriving. Some direct and implicit reasons that support the hypothesis: the bene- and malefits of a new innovation can be addressed immediately, technoscience growing ever more complex leads to less reliable knowledge, more team research, and increasing attention paid to reproducibility of knowledge.

Main Presentation: 12:45 PM to 2:30 PM

Illusions of Time

Stuart Kurtz

I will try a different presentation format that makes use of a YouTube video to introduce an interesting topic that should also generate ideas to discuss. The video is: Illusions of Time. The topic discusses the psychological feelings of how long things go on while engaged and how that changes in our memories of those times as we age.

It would be useful to review this video as preparation for the discussions. It is only a half an hour straight through. I found the video informative, but too rapid. Thus, I will play the video and interrupt it at times for discussion of the various observations made of our time perceptions. We will also discuss how this fits into our understanding of memory and age and time’s passage—that we know is true even if some physicists insist that all of time exists at once and that there is no factual passage of time.

Speakers

Stuart Kurtz was educated as a chemical engineer at MIT (SB) and Princeton (PhD) and taught at RPI and in Brazil. He has devoted much of his leisure time to studying philosophy and physics and trying to convince himself that the concept of time makes sense.

Uldis Blukis, PhD, is professor emeritus, Brooklyn College, CUNY, where from 1960 to 1991 he taught chemistry, integrated science, and history of the scien­ce of matter. From 1966 to 1991, as a board member of the NGO United Baltic Appeal, Inc. he lobbied UN Member State Missions to support the restoration of the independence of the three Baltic States. 1991-1998 he was in the diplomatic service of Latvia as a representative to the UN. 1994-2000 he was a member of the UN Com­­mit­­tee on Contributions. He is the co-author of a physical chemistry textbook, as well as of a series of short educational films, author and co-author of articles and re­views. His B.S. in chemistry is from the University of Illinois, Urbana. His PhD in physical chemistry is from the University of California, Berkeley. Lyceum Society member since 2010. His most frequent contributions, roughly yearly, to Lyceum Society: i) presentations (mostly initial ones) on knowledge and ignorance, six about Nobel prizes), ii) finding outside speakers.

Pricing

All: Free

About the Series

The Lyceum Society is a collegial venue promoting fellowship, education, and discussion among retired members of The New York Academy of Sciences. Learn more and explore other events hosted by the Lyceum Society.