Author

Author: Rod O’Connor PhD

Rod O’Connor grew up on a ‘wheat and sheep’ farm near Dimboola in Western Victoria (Australia). Initially he followed the usual farm-boy route: he dropped out of school and was a builder’s laborer, cattle-station fencer, truck driver, barge deckhand, and farm worker. Then, less commonly, he went to uni, gained a Ph.D. in experimental cognitive psychology, and took to problem solving. He became Assistant Regional Director at the Victorian Ministry of Health, and then, in collaboration with the Victorian Hospitals Association, was a foundation director of Australia’s first dedicated healthcare consulting firm, Health Solutions P/L. Later he went on to be a consultant to the NHMRC National Center for Health Program Evaluation, founder of the Australia Malaysia Health Industry Group, and advisor to the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the UK Economic & Social Research Council, and the UK National Coordinating Center for Research Capacity Development. Later he was Conjoint Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of New South Wales, and member of Brain Sciences UNSW.

Now he writes full-time. In 2004 he published ‘Measuring Quality of Life in Health,’ and in 2020 ‘Einstein’s Last Message.‘ The second book investigates the reasons we make and maintain unwise choices, such as refusing to vaccinate, ignoring climate change, and destroying wilderness. A synopsis follows.

‘Einstein’s Last Message’

In 1946 Albert Einstein warned we must change how we think or humanity will destroy itself. Einstein was worried about nuclear war, but now our poor thinking weakens our response to multiple other crises, including the Covid 19 epidemic and the break-down of our natural world. The book shows how we make and justify decisions, and what is needed to correct our decision making. It offers a way forward for individuals and societies.

‘Einstein’s Last Message’ is available as paperback (ISBN-13 : 978-0648815211) and e-book (ISBN-13 : 978-0-6488152-0-4), and may be obtained from most distributors including Amazon USA, Amazon UK, Amazon Australia

“Magnificent! … an incisive pointer to what Homo Sapiens must do to save itself and its planet from itself.” Dr. Bob Brown, Former Leader, Australian Greens. More reviews and further information are at BOOKS