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science, health and technology

A Cristobal High School grad, author of NASA's authorized history of the Space Shuttle and a history of commercial aviation that became a PBS television series...

Science and technology writer TA Heppenheimer to speak here

* Talk for high school students and teachers on current developments in space-related sciences and industries: Tuesday, April 4, 1 pm at the Smithsonian's Tupper Auditorium in Ancon

* Presentation to a general audience on the directions that the space industry is taking and Panama's opportunities to participate in it: Wednesday, April 5, 7:30 pm at the Colegio de Abogados, on Avenida Mexico across the street from Hospital Santo Tomas and two blocks from the US Embassy

Dr. TA Heppenheimer's late mother used to work as the medical secretary at the old Coco Solo Hospital, among other things handling the paperwork for the late father of the editor of this publication. His father was a tool and die maker for the canal's Industrial Division and most probably Coco Solo's most senior and fervent Beatles fan. Tom Heppenheimer graduated from Cristobal High, then achieved academic distinction at Michigan State and the University of Michigan, getting his doctorate in aerospace engineering at the latter school in 1972.

As a student Heppenheimer discovered achromatic trajectories, a tendency for certain rocket trajectories to focus like a achromatic lens focuses light, which means that even if the velocity is off a bit such missiles will have their courses corrected toward their targets. In the 70s he also developed a theory about how binary stars and their planetary systems form, which is still a hot topic in certain astronomical circles.

After a few years working as an engineer, Heppenheimer found his truest vocation, as a writer about things scientific and technological, with a particular talent for putting things in their historical and social contexts. His writings have been both in popular publications like the old Omni magazine and the libertarian publication Reason, and in the academic press. The following is how he briefly describes himself and his work:

Date of birth: January 1, 1947

Degrees:

B.S. and M.S., mechanical engineering, Michigan State University, 1967 and 1968.

Ph.D, aerospace engineering, University of Michigan, 1972.

Fellowships: Caltech and the Humboldt Foundation (Germany), 1974-1978.

Career:

Professionally employed in engineering, 1972-74.

Free-lance writer and author, since 1975.

As an author, I have written some 300 commissioned articles along with thirteen books, twelve of them published. Clients for free-lance articles and book chapters include American Heritage, Air Power History, Defense World (McGraw Hill), Discover, Forbes, High Technology, Invention & Technology, Los Angeles Times, Mosaic (National Science Foundation), National Academy of Sciences, Nature, Newsweek, Omni, Science, Science Digest, Science 86, Time-Life Books, Wall Street Journal, and Yearbook of Science and the Future (Encyclopedia Britannica).

Books include:

"Colonies in Space," l977. Book-of-the-Month Club and five other bookclubs; mass paperback edition; German, Japanese, Swedish, and Israeli translations.

"Turbulent Skies: The History of Commercial Aviation," 1995. Sloan Technology Series, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This book was the basis for "Chasing the Sun" (200l), a four-part, four-hour television series of the Public Broadcasting System.

"Countdown: A History of Space Flight," 1997.

"History of the Space Shuttle," l999 and 2002. NASA's authorized history, in two volumes. Volume 1, "The Space Shuttle Decision," was reprinted by the Smithsonian Institution Press and was selected as a Outstanding Academic Title.

The Panama News contacted Heppenheimer last year with a couple of events and a few questions in mind. Within a few weeks, there were two major developments in the space industry: the first private manned space flight, and the first private sea launch of a satellite from international waters in the equatorial Pacific. The sea launch, by a consortium that includes Boeing and companies from Norway, Russia and the Ukraine, used Long Beach, California as its maritime base. But if launches from the equator west of the Galapagos are to become a regular industry, might Panama be well situated to be the seaport that serves it? And anyway, now that the space industry is no longer restricted to a highly militarized and highly politicized duopoly of the United States and the old Soviet Union, and it has come to pass that Venezuela has its own telecommunications satellite and Brazil has a new space center, what opportunities might this situation provide for a little country like Panama?

Thus arises this speaking tour of Panama, Heppenheimer's first visit here since 1974. His appearances are sponsored by The Panama News, the Panama Historical Society, the Executive Hotel, the Alternativa radio show and several individuals. The lectures will be in English, but with simultaneous translation into Spanish by Kevin Harrington.

The presentations are free and open to the public, but spaces are limited.

Also in this section:
Presentations by science and technology writer TA Heppenheimer
STRI Science Symposium
The biology of male bird duets
Economic inequalities in a part of Amazonia without much of a market
Is there a "best system" of health insurance?