My Grandfather Part the 3rd

My grandfather’s cigar smoking was a constant source of irritation to his wife, and to many of his friends. One friend recalled that "whenever he had been a few days with us, the whole house had to be aired, for he smoked all over it from breakfast to bedtime. He always went to bed with a cigar in his mouth, and sometimes, mindful of my fire insurance, I went up and took it away, still burning, after he had fallen asleep." On one occasion, my grandfather answered these complaints by claiming only to "smoke in moderation." How so? "Only one cigar at a time!"

Soon after he gave up his dreams of becoming a mountain climber, my grandfather branched out into the field of science.Remarking at the time, that there were ‘few to little gentlemen scientists’ in the world today.

My Grandfather was an inveterate practical joker. Having tried to created his famous "electronic brain" for the Uk government, he dubbed the machine a 'Mathematical Analyser, Numerical Integrater, and Computer'. Several days passed before scientists realized that the name formed a curious anagram: MANIAC.

My grandfather then set about publishing a book warning of technological catastrophes which could kill billions in the following century.Among his fears? That evil amateur scientists could use biotechnology, computers, and nanotechnology to destroy civilization, and that a particle physics project (begun on Long Island in 2000) to create quark-gluon plasma could create a black hole or cause a rip in the space-time continuum."Even if the odds against such a cosmic disaster are vanishingly small," he said (one estimate is one in 50 million) are the potential benefits of the experiment worth risking the worst-case outcome, namely the annihilation of the Earth and the entire universe?"

My grandfather, then offered up his theory on genetics ‘Blue for a boy’ he said ‘and pink for a girl’. Wise wise words I think you’ll agree.