Signal theory Robot Atoms
An odd Irish English education
Born in Dublin Ireland in the 1940's, I was brought up in a small house on a large West Cabra estate by a hard-working widow with 7 other children. Four or five to a bedroom later dropped to two or three as older sisters and brothers left home.
Though 'born Catholic' I was brought up Protestant and attended a small Dublin church school called All Saints with about 50 pupils covering the full age range from starting-school age to leaving-school age. The school staff of 2 comprised a Head Mistress and her assistant, but they made time to give me extra teaching to do a scholarship for Ireland's best private school - and aged 10 they helped me become the first pupil of that school to win that prestegious scholarship.
Unfortunately I could not take up the scholarship as religious and government problems forced my family to emigrate to Leicester England then. So I entered the nearest school which was the rather poor Dale Secondary, but 1 year later won a place in Moat Intermediate school and from there to Gateway Grammer school where the Headmaster insisted I must do Physics at Imperial College London and would be a great physicist.
I had problems getting onto a physics degree so the first degree I took was a University of London BSc in Biology with Chemistry - but I dropped that after 2 years. I did a lot of private study, mainly of physics theory, physics history and philosophy since these remained strong interests. Later I successfully completed some part-time post-graduate study in Law or more precisely in Socio-Legal Studies. And in 1987 I successfully completed a BSc Honours at London's City University in Sociology with Economics, the first year of which included Philosophy. The excellent Philosophy Professor tried hard to convince me to major in Philosophy, but I felt the need for a degree with a better chance of helping to feed the family that I had recently started.
Odd work and activities
Between a perhaps strange mix of various studies, I did a maybe stranger mix of full-time jobs for money and part-time activities for interest.
When young I was for a year or two a published poet and tried other writing. I also looked into a range of politics and was for a time a successful mainstream political activist. And I looked into religions and even tried to start my own new religion.
My first job application attempt around 1959/1960 was for Computer Programming with the multinational Rank Zerox, and from its IQ test they told me that nobody who worked for them or had applied to work for them had ever scored an IQ as high as me. And they failed me on the job application.
My actual jobs to date in England have been a strange mix indeed - including 1 year as a Postman, 1 year as an Art College Model, 1 year in Pharmaceutical Shipping, 2 years in Construction Materials, 5 years in government Unemployment Welfare relating mostly to the poor and 15 years in government Affordable Housing / Social Housing Finance relating mostly to housing and the poor as an 'economist'. Today I am still working, partly as a rather unsuccessful shopkeeper and partly as a website and computer software writer.
Marriage and Family
I married late aged 41 to Mary Finn aged 21, though the age difference was maybe not typical of either of us, and we had 2 sons - Colin in 1984 and Adam in 1990. Despite my wife being younger, Mary died of pneumonia in 2001 while somehow I am still going strong.
Making Useful Websites
In recent years I have made and maintained a rather strange range of hopefully useful websites based on what I have learned from my strange mix of education, jobs and activities ;
- New Science Theory on physics theory history and my own science ideas.
- World Poverty on causes and possible solutions for poverty worldwide.
- Social Exclusion Housing on poverty, housing problems and solutions.
- Buy To Let on becoming a housing property landlord.
- Wilmots on learning and recreation including forums and store.
- How To Kiss on clear simple relationship advice.
These websites are all ongoing projects of mine now that some people do seem to really value, and I have also made a few other minor websites for myself and for others. Some more will hopefully follow, possibly on other strange subjects, in the near future life of this Irish man.