- #36
Pinu7
- 275
- 5
My great grandfather worked under both Landau and Hilbert.
Sounds remarkably similar to my family history. What a coincidence. I hate when that happens.mathwonk said:One of my ancestors on my mom's side (of kelso or calchou) died fighting with william wallace, another was known as "little john" (nayler) in robin hood's band, others included the Clanton family murdered by the Earps at the Ok corral and vilified in film history. On my dad's side, Jesse Tapp, former chairman of Bank of America was my cousin. My dad ran away from home at age 16 and joined the circus, later the railroad, was a rough and tumble fighter, and self taught lawyer. I left a job as a lugger at the south boston meat market to teach math in washington state. Put on notice to get a phd or lose my job, i did both. When I returned to southie for a visit after 5 years, one of my lugging friends saw me and asked predictably: "you look kind of pale, where you been, prison? "
but my brother Charlie is an engineer, (and formerly Bill Monroe's fiddler). But in my dreams I grew up in a scientific family in Europe surrounded by scholars.
If he had waited a century or two, he might have gotten that Northwest passage. It could be a regular feature in another couple of years.mathwonk said:turbo, we may be related. check out my moms family history online: "kelso kin".
Jurrasic said:It it common that the student would have a parent who doesn't give a rat about anything scientific or engineering like? Or is this sort of impossible?
mathwonk said:my dad had only a high school education but my mom wanted to go to college.
Mentallic said:dad - never went to high school, cleaner.
mum - dropped out half way through high school, take away shop server.
My dad: chem E, my grandpa: mining E, great grandpa: mechanical E, great-great grandpa: civil E. My maternal grandpa was a geologist specializing in hydrology, plus 3 engineery brothers in law.Jurrasic said:How typical is it that an engineering or science student also has other relatives in their family who are also engineers or scientists ?
physics girl phd said:My dad (the oldest of eight) and his next closest brother were both electrical engineers at Bell Labs. I don't think there are any scientist/engineering types on my mother's side (also one of eight) except through marriage... though she comes from an agricultural family, which certainly requires some mechanical aptitude, accounting skill, and understanding of nature. A fair number of aunts entered the medical professions (some in the pathology labs of hospitals), and my sister has her MD/PhD and is a pathologist. My mother and father were the first in their respective families to attend college.
I keep wondering what's next on the polls... do you wear glasses or corrective lenses of some sort; does your immediate family? I.e., what's the chances your genes would have made it through if their wasn't either some smart gene or some extra care taken in your background / upbringing... (For the record, I have a great picture of my mother, father, brother, sister and I in the eighties in which all of us have on those big-lensed eighties glasses -- though my mother has rather good vision and only needed slight correction for one eye).
wild999711 said:My grandfather on my mother's side was great at fixing old cars, bikes, or engines in general. According to the family he could fix anything with "toothpicks and rubberbands".
chiro said:Is your uncle by any chance Macgyver? ;)