| Walter P. Kistler | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1918 Biel, Switzerland |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | Swiss/USA |
| Fields | Physicist |
| Institutions | Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Bell Aircraft |
| Alma mater | University of Geneva, ETH Zurich |
| Known for | Multiple inventions, Kistler Group |
| Notable awards |
Albert F. Sperry Award (issued by the ISA) |
Walter P. Kistler is a physicist, inventor, and philanthropist, born in 1918 in Biel, Switzerland. Kistler is a life member of the Swiss Physical Society and a member of AIAA and ISA, which presented him the Life Achievement Award in 2000. He is listed in American Men of Science, Who’s Who in Aviation, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, and Who’s Who in the World. He holds patents on more than 50 inventions in the scientific and industrial instrumentation fields, and has published a number of papers published in scientific and trade journals.
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Kistler studied sciences at the University of Geneva and earned a Master’s degree in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. While subsequently head of the Instrumentation Lab at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur, he pioneered a new measurement technology using Piezo-electric quartz crystals as the transduction element in accelerometers, load cells, and pressure gauges. This new technology was made possible by Kistler’s invention of a charge amplifier that could handle the very high impedance signals obtained from such sensors. For these achievements, he would in 1983 receive the prestigious Albert F. Sperry Award from the Instrument Society of America (ISA).
In 1951, Kistler moved to the United States and joined Bell Aerosystems, Buffalo, New York. At Bell, he invented and developed a pulse constraint servo-accelerometer that was later used in the guidance of the Agena space rocket. For this work, he received the 1968 Aerospace Pioneer Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), recognizing “his pioneering effort in the development of high-performance aerospace instrumentation.” In 1957, Kistler founded Kistler Instrument Corporation in order to further pursue his work in quartz instrumentation. Under Kistler's supervision, his company made several major innovations, some of which would be put to use in the Apollo manned spaceflights, and became a world leader in the development of quartz sensors.
Kistler sold the company, which currently (2010) is known as Kistler Group, in 1970 and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he founded with his partner Charles Morse the Kistler-Morse Corporation. Kistler supervised and designed a number of innovations in sensors while at this company, and in 1982 he was named an ISA Fellow for his contributions in the field of sensor development. In the 1960s, Kistler developed a shorthand writing system that he called Steno, and initiated a project called The Steno Trust in 1997 to teach the system for applications in education, industry, and law. In Kistler's view, the greatest application of Steno is in the writing of journals.
In his later life, Kistler played a central role as Director or Chairman in the startup of several high-technology companies. These companies include Kistler Products, SRS, ICI, Interpoint, Paroscientific, and SPACEHAB, Inc. In 1993 he co-founded Kistler Aerospace Corporation “to pursue his life-long dream of designing and building the world's first totally reusable space vehicle,” hoping to reduce the cost of access to space by 80 to 90 percent.
Though Kistler’s life was predominantly spent in science and engineering, he was always concerned about where humanity was headed, and in 1996 he co-founded (with Bob Citron) the Foundation For the Future. The Foundation’s goal is to “increase knowledge about the factors that may have a major impact on the long-term future of humanity.” [3]
Foundation For the Future programs include awarding the annual Kistler Prize; awarding of other Walter P. Kistler prizes to recognize book authors, film producers, or teachers who promote scientific knowledge and understanding related to the long-term future of humanity; funding research grants (up to US $25,000) to support scholars undertaking research directly related to better understanding the factors affecting the long-term future of humanity; hosting/sponsoring conferences to bring together scientists and scholars from multiple disciplines and various parts of the world for discussions focused on the thousand-year future of our species and our planet; and undertaking public awareness concerning the long-term future of the human species. A new program established in fall 2009 is the Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series, which brings to the public, free of charge, direct access to expert information on urgent issues facing humanity today and into the future. [4]
Hundreds of scholars have participated in Foundation For the Future seminars and workshops. Here are comments from a few of them:
“The conference was especially valuable for bringing together exceedingly bright persons from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary specializations to think seriously and provocatively about the future.” — Professor Howard Wiarda, University of Massachusetts.[1]
“I found that in this experience I have become much more optimistic about the future.” — Dr. John Skoyles, London School of Economics.[1]
“If the intention of the organizers was to make people who have never thought about the far future do so, then it succeeded gloriously with me, and I have not stopped since. I learned how hopeless we are at predicting the near future – let alone a thousand years ahead – but how important it is for us to try.” — Dr. Susan Blackmore, author of The Meme Machine.[1]
“I learned that it’s important to share your ideas with your peers and even other people that you come into contact with because that way you actually get a holistic view of what everyone thinks and you get a more rounded view of what the problem is and you can, as a group, think of ways to come up with a resolution for it.” — Albert, high school student.[1]
“I have been devoted to futures studies for almost 30 years, and this is my great pleasure to have this opportunity to meet so many futurists at the same time. I have learned a great deal because this is an interdisciplinary approach, and it touches politics, education, economics, sociology, anthropology, etc. It will be most helpful that we can widen our perspectives.” — Clement C.P. Chang, Tamkang University, Taipei[1]
On his concern for the future of humanity, Kistler has written the following:
“When I consider what has happened in the years since I was a boy [...] we have deciphered the genetic code and are now able to study the innermost structure of a human being. We have invented the transistor and have developed a computer-based civilization replete with computer games and interactive television. We have even conquered space and humans have walked on the moon. However, few people are aware of the most drastic development that has taken place in humanity’s condition, a development of portentous consequences. From the status of a child or teenager, humanity suddenly became an adult in the 20th century. Science and technology have given us so much power that we now control our own destiny. A position of control has its consequences. It entails great responsibility. Unfortunately, we humans don’t seem to be aware of this.” [5]
The Kistler Prize, created in 1999, includes a cash award of US $100,000 and a gold medallion, and is awarded annually to recognize original contributions “to the understanding of the connection between the human genome and human society, especially those contributions stemming from research conducted with courage and conviction despite opposition from peers or the public.” [6] The recipients have been:
The Walter P. Kistler Book Award, established in 2003, recognizes authors who make important contributions to the public’s understanding of factors that may impact the long-term future of humanity. The award includes a cash prize of US $10,000 and a certificate. The recipients have been:
In 2007 the inaugural Walter P. Kistler Science Documentary Film Award was presented to Thomas Levenson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for the four-part miniseries Origins. Also in 2007, the first Walter P. Kistler Science Teacher Award was presented to Paula Fraser, Teacher of fifth-graders in the PRISM Program, Bellevue School District, Washington.
A less known fact about Walter P. Kistler is that he is a passionate lover of shorthand and has invented the Newrite system of shorthand now being propagated in India.[2] [3]
Walter Kistler and his Foundation for the Future have also been accused of racism and eugenic philosophies, promoting selective breeding of humans, based on race and IQ, to promote the species. Kistler's Foundation for the Future has funded The Pioneer Fund, which is listed as a 'hate group' by The Southern Poverty Law Center, and Walter Kistler has been associated with the Galton Society (formerly known as the Eugenics Society). See: http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/summer/of-race-and-rockets