Leslie M. Golden's book is now available on the shelves of the Oak Park Public Library, through the SWAN system, and at university libraries in the area.

      The book presents experiments in modern astronomy, including experiments on radar and radio astronomy.  For these purposes, Golden worked with software and hardware developers from California, Massachusetts, New York, Prague, and Bosnia to develop instrumentation suitable for the laboratory yet inexpensive for purchase by colleges and universities.

      Although published only in November, 2012, the book has already been adopted for courses at over 40 colleges and universities.  The 600-page book retails for $89.95.

NOTABLE FOR ITS HUMOR AND ENVIRONMENTALISM

      The book is also notable for its humor, references to extraterrestrials, and environmental consciousness.  Golden, a former stand-up comedian who appeared on the Playboy Club and college campus circuits, the Merv Griffin Show, and many private clubs from Boston to Puerta Vallarta, spices up the book with jokes, non-sequitors, and his own cartoons.   An associate of Jill Tartar of SETI fame, much of the material relates to questions of the possibility of extraterrestrial life.  The chairman of Golden's dissertation committee at the University of California, Berkeley, holds the only endowed chair in extraterrestrial life studies in the nation. 

      Dr. Golden, a nationally-known environmentalist and animal welfare advocate, also discusses in the context of the book consequences for the Earth of mankind's practices.  The frontispiece is a cartoon strip from Brewster Rockit: Space Guy! in which mankind's devastation of trees is highlighted.  Several other Brewster Rockit cartoon strips appear in the textbook. 

      Golden has provided numerous strip ideas to Tim Rickard, the creator of the cartoon strip.  Rickard also provided a foreward to Golden's soon to be published humor book, "The Non-Linear Mind of Professor Les Golden."  Golden and  Rickard share an affinity in addition to space, both being members of Mensa, the super-high IQ society. 

      Golden is listed on four non-vanity, peer-reviewed internet encyclopedia listings.  These include Comiclopedia.com for cartoonists and illustrators of international renown (http://www.lambiek.com/artists/g/golden_les.htm), Illinoisauthors.org for distinguished Illinois writers (www.illinoisauthors.org/authors/Leslie_Morris_Golden), Librarything.com for those whose books are carried in university and public libraries (http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/Les_Golden), and Authorsden.com (http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?AuthorID=162322).  He is also listed on the International Movie Database (imdb) for his film roles.

NEW BOOKS TO BE RELEASED

      Dr. Golden is currently completing his book based on his studies with the legendary Del Close of Second City, "The Scientific Approach to Creativity: The Improvisational Techniques of the Chicago School of Comedy."   For this book he received a significant advance from Bantam/Doubleday.  He is also preparing a second book for Springer, "Body Shapes of Extraterrestrials and Other Essay in Science and Math."

      Golden was selected in 1986 to be the on-board astronomer by Royal Cruise Lines to sail around the world for two months during the apparition of Halley's Comet.  In 1996, he became the first and to date only University of Illinois professor to receive an appointment as a professor on the Semester at Sea program.  He sailed around the world for 3 1/2 months.  He has also sailed on other cruise lines as a lecturer for shorter durations.  He was selected by the Adler Planetarium to be their keynote speaker on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

      On the scholarly platform, 2011 saw the publication of his "An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21" in The Mathematical Scientist.  His "The Optimal Allocation of Resources Among Competing Units of Government" has been accepted for publication in 2013 in the Journal of Public Policy and Management.  Golden has been writing gambling columns for four London-based gambling magazines since 2006.  David Bland, editor of Flush magazine and a British television pundit, refers to him as "a comedy genius, it's as simple as that."

A BRAVE GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG

      Locally, he is best known for having achieved a ban on pesticide spraying in the parks in 1991.   After getting incumbents removed from the ballot for having faulty nominating petitions, the victorious candidates that Golden had slated for the park board in the April election voted on their first day in office for a ban which has existed to this day. 

      A watchdog against influence peddling, corruption, perjury in suits against citizens by government officials protecting their jobs, and overspending by government, he has received leadership awards from Oak Park's Citizen Active for a Responsible Electorate, United Taxpayers of Illinois, and Taxpayers United of America.  Overall, he has slated nearly 100 candidates in Oak Park and River Forest elections, a veritable one-man machine for democracy. 

      It is nearly literally true that, except for school board elections, if Les Cut-the-Taxes Golden does not slate candidates, the election is uncontested.  The 2013 village board, library, and park district elections are cases in point.   The last Oak Park township election in which the voters had a choice was the one in which Golden recruited and slated a complete slate of seven candidates. 

      Golden was the statewide spokesman for the "Vote YES! on ConCon" Committee to convene an Illinois constitutional convention in 2008 and for the purpose wrote "Field Guide for Political Candidates."   The book has been purchased by or donated to  candidates and sponsors of causes from Maryland to California.

RENAISSANCE MAN

      A lifelong resident of Oak Park, Les Golden is one of the few graduates of Oak Park and River Forest High School to be both a two-sport letterman and rank among the top four of his class academically.  He is proudest of having led all Oak Park as a little leaguer with a 0.573 batting average and batting clean-up on the All-Star team.  He has been the captain of fast pitch softball teams in various leagues since college, managing the Goldenrods and the Foul Balls.  He was the all-star third baseman in the Glendale City Fast Pitch Softball League while performing research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 

      Probably the most colorful local character since Ernest Hemingway himself, we recommend that you take a look at Dr. Leslie Golden's fourth book, "Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles."  It's at the Oak Park Public Library.

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