American Revolution Vignette – Outlook on History

When I was a youth and I had to study history, I always found it amazingly boring. I never understood how anyone could make a career out of history. My grades in history were bad, and I spent as little time on it as I could get away with.

Yet, I was exposed to it at an early age, and studied history about the ancient Greeks and Romans, through the middle ages into the modern European times. Then finally American History in high school. I read Roman history in Latin, German history in German, and American History in English. I remember very, very little, but I do suspect all those classes contributed to make me the person I am today.

In those days I always thought that I’d have the rest of my life available to read anything I want.

Now, as I just finished reading Seldon Edwards’ The Little Book, I was inspired about Austrian/Hungarian history, all the way up to Hitler. I actually spent some time at Border’s poking around on the shelf for books about Hitler and saw Mein Kampf, and I thought I should read it some time.

After reading John Adams, I am inspired to read up more about the revolutionary period as well as about biographies of all the other presidents.

And now I realize that all the days I have left in this world are not enough just to read the history books I still want to read. That does not leave time for the 100 greatest books of all time, all the science fiction I still want to read, and the day to day current events stuff I want to keep up with. Too much knowledge to gain, too little time left. Why didn’t my teachers get that through to me when I was a kid? I was not listening.

Another striking fact regarding outlook on history has to do with perspective and scale. The story of John Adams starts in 1776, but really flashes back to the Boston Massacre in 1770. Let’s say 1775 for round numbers. Then the years of the Revolutionary War and the formation of our country brings us to 1789 and the beginning of George Washington’s  presidency of eight years. We go on to the four years of Adams, then the eight years of Jefferson, and twenty years go by. It all seems like the same time from our current vantage point, namely long ago and far away. But those years of the first three presidents are analogous to the years starting 1988 with Bush Sr. (four years), then Clinton (eight years), and finally Bush Jr. (eight years). That’s a long time, thinking back now to Bush Sr.

So while, to me, 1775 and 1825 look really close together, it was a full 50 years, and the difference between Adams as a man in his thirties, and Adams as a man in his eighties, an enormous stretch of time.

One more interesting fact about the first 7 presidencies is that the two Adamses were the only ones with four year terms and were defeated by their opponents. All others had eight year terms.

1. Washington (8)
2. John Adams (4)
3. Jefferson (8)
4. Madison (8)
5. Monroe (8)
6. John Q. Adams (4)
7. Jackson (8)

Aren’t you glad you know that now?

A Stricken Marine

The news blub at MSNBC below was published today with the following second paragraph:

While an Associated Press photographer was embedded with Marines in Helmand last month, a Marine convoy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG. It struck Lance Corporal Joshua M. Bernard severing his legs. He was treated on the scene, but later died at a combat field hospital.

This kind of paragraph is easy to write for the AP reporters or MSNBC. Let me give it a try:

A young American named Joshua, somebody’s son, brother, friend and classmate, joined the U.S. Marines after High School. He was proud of his decision to serve his country, and he knew intellectually what he was getting into. He was sent to Afghanistan in the heat of the summer. He wrote emails home to his family and friends, complaining about the intense heat of the desert, describing how scared they all were. But he was trained for this and he was proud of what he was doing.

On a routine patrol mission their convoy was hit. It happened so fast,  there was no time to reflect or think. Joshua looked down and noticed that his legs were gone, blood rushing from his stumps. Intense pain and blurred vision overtook him. Utter panic overpowered him. He had just enough time to wonder about how in the hell he got himself into that situation. It had not been his plan to die in the dirt far away from home. He would not see his family again. There was also that photographer. Joshua noticed he took pictures of him. He closed his eyes. What a waste. Darkness. And then the pain faded away.

I think about the war differently when I put myself into the head of Joshua. Is it worth it?

Yusuf Islam – Father and Son

Timeless.

 

In the 1970ies, I listened to this Cat Stevens song. Then I was the son, and I remember clinging to every word of this song and find the advice, then live with it. It touched me.

Now,  having completed most of my fathering, I know that my son and daughter are there and they have figured out that there is something going on.

When I clung to every word as the son then, I cling to them as the father now, and I must admit that Cat Stevens was brilliant. Every word in the song has deep meaning that spans generations.

Books to Build a Company – Intellectual Nostalgia

When our technical team moved offices last year, I was asked to go through the shelves of books that had accumulated over a decade and a half, and sort out what books to keep. Technical books get outdated quickly, and most of what was on those shelves went to the dumpster.  Had anyone but myself been asked to do this sorting, a number of books would not have been kept. However, I knew that every one of these books was in some way critical to my thinking and background, and therefore critical to the formation of Controltec in its early years. These books form the foundation of our company. So I took this little stack and put it into my trunk. They left the company, probably unread by anyone, and they came back to my book boxes, where they are safe from plunder and discard. Here they are:

• Matters Mathematical – by Herstein and Kaplansky. A math primer on number theory, permutations, group theory, finite geometry, game theory and infinite sets.
• Discrete Mathematics in Computer Science – by Stanat and McAllister. Mathematical models, mathematical reasoning, sets, binary relations, functions, counting and algorithm analysis, infinite sets and algebras.
• Robot Design Handbook – by SRI International. A treatise on how to design robots, with all the math you need, but the technology of 1988; you should see the digital cameras used.
• Introduction to Robotics – by John J. Craig. I met John in San Francicsco. I was thinking about collaborating with his company, but it never came about. I didn’t read the book, but it was a good reference for the basics of robotic design.
• Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics – by William M. Newman and Robert F. Sproull. Here is a 1973/1979 book where I learned everthing I know about computer graphics. You’d say it is outdated – thank you very much. But in truth, the mathematics has not changed one bit, and you could read and use this today to become a computer graphics expert. Timeless.
• Elementary Topics in Differential Geometry – by J.A. Thorpe. I needed this for vector mathematics, which I needed to research for neural networks. It served as a reference only. The math is over my head.
• Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics – by David F. Rogers and J. Alan Adams. I used some of this to do graphical simulations of objects in 4-dimensional space, partly for computer art, mostly for visualization of the 4th dimension. It gave me the fundamentals for computing transformation matrices.
• Practical Image Processing in C – by Craig A. Lindley. I still remember the bookstore in downtown San Francisco where I bought this in 1993. I used code from this book to do image processing when working on a license plate reading machine.
• Statistics – by Donald Koosis. Statistics for a guy who never took at statistics class. I needed to know some of the basics.
• Using Bar Code – by David J. Collins. In the earlier days of bar code technology, this was one of the bibles. We used much bar code technology over the years, and it all started with this book.
• Elementary Linear Algebra – by Howard Anton. This was a text book in college in 1981. The linear algebra class was probably the single most important class I have taken in my career. It shaped my interest for years to come, and I am still intrigued.
• The C Programming Lanugage – by Kernighan and Ritchie. This is the absolute C bible and any programmer of the C programming language has one in his library and will never let go of it. This is mine.
• A Programmer’s Geometry – by Adrian Bowyer and John Woodwark. A highly practical guide to making graphical things happen from scratch with a computer. This is the book I needed to design and develop the software for a set of machines that cut and laid up composite carbon fiber tape for airplane panel manufacture.

Chelsea’s 23rd Birthday

 

1st Birthday:

 

Confusion. Why are we doing a birthday for a baby that has no idea what it’s about?

 

2nd Birthday:

 

This is fun. Friends, food, toys.

 

3rd to 10th Birthday:

 

Party favors, friends, other moms, ribbons, balloons. Dad off to the side. What’s this about?

 

11th to 14th Birthday:

 

Awkward. Too old for party favors, but like the presents.

 

15th to 16th Birthday:

 

Dad, take me and my friends to some place expensive, like Magic Mountain, Disneyland or a trip far away.

 

17th Birthday:

 

I want to be with my friends. Driver’s permit.

 

18th Birthday:

 

Where is my car? College. I want to be with my friends. Don’t you dare put on a party for me.

 

19th to 20th Birthday:

 

Could you take me out to dinner?

 

21st Birthday:

 

I’ll go out with my friends and have a drink. I can hardly make it to Christmas Eve dinner the day after. My hangover is horrible.

 

22nd Birthday:

 

What? This is it? Life started.

 

23rd Birthday and on:

 

Dad realizes it’s a special anniversary for him. It’s been 23 years that she has been part of his life. The birthday was the day she joined him. For good. Dad celebrates quietly, remembering the moments on the day she was born.