The Fire and the Anvil by Michael Galloway

Author:Michael Galloway [Galloway, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Candlepower Publishing House
Published: 2018-12-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

In the evening, while Captain overcame his fear of robotic bees in the laboratory and Madeline did more research in the guest bedroom, John resumed his interview with Dr. Ferganut in the living room. John reviewed his interview notes, but the handful of questions that remained made him hesitate. The list was short but intimidating since it covered work habits and the professor’s past troubles with gambling. He did not know if he should get that personal let alone publish such information in a book. He figured he would start easy and then step it up as time allowed.

He cleared his throat and dove in. “Where do you find inspiration for new inventions?”

Dr. Ferganut’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I find it everywhere. In the past I think I borrowed some of my designs from nature. Nowadays I go through scientific magazines or get ideas from science fiction books and movies. My mom used to tell me I was fascinated with bugs as a kid and maybe I was. I drove her nuts because I kept bringing home jars of crickets or dragonflies or frogs. When one cricket died I buried him in the front yard next to our big elm tree. I even made a little cardboard tombstone for him, too.”

“So did you like biology in school?”

“I loved it. But I was weird about it. I didn’t care much for population studies or genetics or ecosystems. I got hung up on the machinery inside of cells and bacteria. And the way bigger things moved.”

“Do you have any advice for someone wanting to get into your field?”

“Do you mean materials science or teaching or…”

“Inventions.”

Dr. Ferganut rocked in his recliner and stared thoughtfully. After a minute of silence he spoke up. “I don’t know. I sort of stumbled into it myself. I remember watching a video of rescue workers digging through rubble from an earthquake in Taiwan and I got so frustrated seeing them use such clumsy tools and wasting time. I thought that I could do better than that so I started making my own. It was hard because when I told people about what I was doing they said, ‘Oh, that’s nice’ and walked away. I guess sometimes people don’t understand what you’re doing at first so they don’t know what to say. I can think of a warning, though. Don’t let your work become your life.”

“You mean you think worked too hard?”

“Worked too hard and worked too many hours. I paid a steep price over the years, John. I kept pushing myself to excel and kept trying to one-up what I did last time. I was my own worst competitor. It didn’t help that I kept constantly comparing myself to others in the industry even thought what I was doing was original. But all those hours I put in hurt my marriage and my relationships. Especially with Madeline.”

John wondered if the door of the guest bedroom was open and if Madeline could hear any of this conversation. He lowered his voice.

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