| #ffffff;" /> | | | | transitioning math into areas such as Radar and |
| I like biographies, oh, not those ghost written glossy | | | | microwave. |
| ones featuring this weeks favorite pop star, or | | | | Of course it was only a matter of time before new |
| yesterday's political want to be. I like biographies by | | | | interests crept in. Most history books cite the |
| real people who have a real story. For good or bad, I | | | | creation of the internet as being an event that |
| like real stories about real people. They don’t | | | | happened in 1969, when for the first time two |
| have to be captains of industry, or Nobel science | | | | computers in different geographical locations shared |
| winners, they just need to have a story. | | | | information, ARPANET was born. The history books |
| When I found Militarist Millionaire Peacenik in my | | | | are both right and wrong, remote access to |
| mailbox, I took one look at the cover and said to | | | | computers had been achieved sometime sooner. And |
| myself, “Self, I know you are going to enjoy | | | | one of the earliest adoptees was an Alan Kay |
| this one”. I was not wrong, Alan F. Kay has | | | | concept and company AutEx, a way that financial |
| led a fascinating life, a life that deserves recording for | | | | traders could automate the buying and selling of |
| all to appreciate. Alan is now in his 80’s and | | | | Stock Exchange products. It was also the beginnings |
| he has much to reflect on. I wish I could boast 1/10th | | | | of E-mail. |
| of his achievements. | | | | Alan Kay is just one of those people that you can |
| Born in the later part of the 1920’s Alan Kay | | | | not keep down, having spent his time in the world of |
| has seen much change in the world. His inherent love | | | | E-commerce before the word had even been |
| of learning led him into a Chemical Engineering degree | | | | thought of he moved on. What next? Well why not |
| at MIT, alas health problems took him in a different | | | | world peace? All I can say is that this guy is a |
| direction while there. He moved into Math. But What | | | | dynamo. |
| can you do with a Bachelor's Degree in math? is the | | | | The Cold War did not deter Alan Kay, both sides |
| rhetorical question he asks. Alan Kay, is what I think | | | | were wrong. Politicians were doing little to diffuse |
| would call an over-achiever, the BS soon becomes a | | | | what could become a world terminating situation. |
| PhD. | | | | They may have been the worlds superpowers, but in |
| My interest in Math on the other hand, was derailed | | | | reality the US and the USSR had become ugly |
| in the English Grammar School system in the | | | | adversaries in a game of atomic chess. Most books |
| 1960’s. It was taught in such an abstract | | | | view the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis as the point at |
| fashion that there seemed no application for it in the | | | | which we came closest to a nuclear winter, but I am |
| real world. Even the exam questions were inane, and | | | | still up for a lively discussion about the Reagan years. |
| I recall centered around such concepts as someone | | | | I have a list of people that I would love to talk with, |
| leaving both bath taps turned on full and the plug not | | | | some are alive, and a few I have managed to chat |
| being installed. Our mission was to figure out how | | | | with, some are dead, and I can only imagine how |
| long it would take the bath tub to spill on the floor! | | | | those conversations would go. Alan Kay has been |
| As a 16 year old, what went through my mind was | | | | added to my list, what a great life he has led, what |
| not how long it would take, but rather how much | | | | an interesting man. |
| trouble you were likely going to get into if you were | | | | In Militarist Millionaire Peacenik Alan Kay makes |
| responsible for doing such a thing. | | | | reference to the six degrees of separation, the |
| Alan Kay had achieved his PhD, but the land of | | | | concept of which is that you can take any two |
| academia was not his calling. The brief stint in the | | | | people on the planet, and by looking at who they |
| military as a translator in the months following the | | | | know, and whose people in turn know, in less than |
| end of WWII in Japan had introduced Alan Kay to | | | | six levels you can connect them. I am one degree of |
| other avenues to explore. | | | | separation from Alan Kay, and hope that I can |
| His understanding of math led him into a path of | | | | persuade him into being a guest on my radio show, |
| working for a defense contractor, but as he so | | | | which will remove that degree! |
| eloquently put it “I never made anything that | | | | You can get your copy of Militarist Millionaire Peacenik |
| went BANG”. Rather his interest was in | | | | from Amazon. |