Irish roots go deep into History

How old are the Irish? By this I do not mean how old an individual Irish man or woman is, but how old the race is.

From time, to time, I have wondered about the origin of the Irish: what makes them distinct from other Europeans - indeed, are they distinct from them?

To look at, an Irishman is very easily picked out, if you know what to look for. The fact that there is a particular typical appearance suggests a unique set of genes which distinguish them from the other nationalities and races of the world. I have always thought this, by observation alone.

I have also opined, to others that, as an Irishman, I was of an older race than the Europeans to whom I spoke. I don't know why I felt this, I just did. They, of course, shrugged off, or laughed off the suggestion, depending on personality - and one, in particular, argued vehemently against it for a good twenty minutes, as if personally offended by the idea that the Irish might be of more antique stock than other Europeans.

The funny thing is, I was right and all those who laughed, scoffed, shrugged off or argued against me, were wrong. The Irish are the oldest race in Europe according to recent genetic research.

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin completed a genetic map of 200 Irish people and compared the Irish samples to over 8,000 other samples from around Europe. What they found stunned them and overturned all the ideas people had had about the Irish (except for me and mine I might add). The genetic testing proved that Irish people with Gaelic surnames (like my family, for Cawley is a rewrite of a Gaelic name), from the West of Ireland (where we are from) are NOT descended from the same group of people who populated the rest of Europe. In fact, the genetic testing proves that these Irish people - true Irish, if you like - are descendants of a far older race - of the pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers before the farmers came from the South-East of Europe. The Irish are, indeed, an ancient race - the oldest in the Caucasian world. The Irish are a remnant of the pre-Neolithic hunters that existed before the agricultural revolution swept the world bringing new ways, and new genes with it. The thinking is that the invasion of large numbers of agricultural people from the South East pushed the original hunters (who for economic reasons are necessarily much smaller in numbers) to the margins of the world. They found shelter in the chilly, unwelcoming West of Ireland, where they lived in genetic isolation from the rest of the world for the next ten thousand years. You see an Irishman of today, from the West of Ireland, which had little or no contact with the rest of the world (and if you ever go there you would see the same forces at work today), is an inheritor of an ancient genetic lineage. His (or her) genes are not the ones found in the rest of the farmer descended Europeans, but are those of Ancient man. They have the genetic makeup of Stone Age Hunters. At the very latest these would have been Early Mesolithic hunters - but the work suggests an origin of "over 10,000 years ago" - which is outside the Mesolithic and would, I suppose, put it into the Upper Paleolithic (the period of 30,000 B.C to 10,000 BC)

The marker used in the study is quite distinct and this research is not in the least controversial. The researchers at Trinity College, Dublin, looked for Haplogroup 1, which is a genetic marker present in the oldest group of humans to ever enter Europe. Their genetic map was telling. They discovered a gradient of Haplogroup 1 throughout Europe, the lowest prevalence being in Turkey, at only 1.8 %, showing that the Turks have very little genetic influence from the most ancient of men. The highest prevalence of Haplogroup 1 is found in the West of Ireland with prevalences reaching as high as 98.3 % of all Irish men carrying the gene, in Connaught. This means that these true Irish men are derived almost entirely from Stone Age stock, with almost no admixture of more recent genetic lineages from other races/areas of mankind. This result could only have happened under conditions of extreme and persistent genetic isolation over a ten thousand year period. It is astonishing, really, when you think about it - but that is what happened to the Irish: isolated from the rest of the world, for ten millenia (at least in the West of Ireland). The results, however, are very interesting - for it means that the Irish have preserved, in their blood, the genetic inheritance of the Stone Age (Middle and Old Stone Age) hunters.

The Haplogroup 1 is present on the Y chromosome inherited by males from the father. The average prevalence of Haplogroup 1 across the whole of Ireland was 78.1% - but this diluted number includes those descended from the British, Scottish and Normans/Vikings - who are almost exclusively present in the East of Ireland. Those descended from Irish alone show the Stone Age marker at almost 100% prevalence.

It is funny that what I had always felt to be the case, turns out to be true. The Irish are truly a race apart - and older, more ancient than any other Caucasian group, you will ever meet.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, the Irish, the Malays, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

A child's book shelf

There is a bookshelf, in our house, in fact, more than one. The child's book shelf I wish to speak of, is by the wall in the living room. It is of an unusual appearance, being a furniture book shelf, that is round in design, not rectangular.

Now, this bookshelf doesn't have a ladder leaning against it. Indeed, there is no ladder accessible in our house (from the days we found Tiarnan at the top of it, of his own accord, while a matter of several months old).

About two months ago, I heard a little squeal coming from the living room. When I looked in the room, I found that Tiarnan, who had been quietly playing, had found an altogether unorthodox use for a bookshelf. There was a strange new addition to the top shelf of my book shelf. There, balancing carefully on top of the books, was my son, Tiarnan (eighteen months at the time). Somehow, he had climbed to the top of the bookshelf - and had done so without, as I could see, knocking off any books.

Once he had got to the top, he found that going down didn't look so inviting - hence the squeal. I reached up and took him down.

This is just another adventure in our daily life with a little spiderman/spiderbaby/spidertoddler. With him, nothing is safe from being climbed. So far, he has yet to fall off anything - but I really don't want there ever to be a first time. He attempts to climb everything that looks even vaguely possible - and always succeeds, as far as I can see. Perhaps he was born to be a mountaineer (or comes from mountain-living stock!) - for he just can't stop climbing.

Although he enjoys climbing, I would rather he took up a safer pursuit - like reading the books, instead of climbing on the bookshelves (he does like books, actually, too).

If you have a climbing baby, no doubt you, too, have had the experience of finding your child in strange places. With Tiarnan, this is a fairly regular occurrence. Oh well...

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Akiane Kramarik: a child prodigy artist?

Is Akiane Kramarik a child prodigy artist? For those who know of Akiane Kramarik – and that probably includes almost everyone who has ever searched for my page (because she has been around for a very long time and word tends to get around) – you would know that she has a reputation as a child prodigy artist. You may even have seen Akiane’s CNN interview with Glenn Beck. So, why do I ask this question, then?

Well, it is, as usual, simple. You see I have noted various debates about her on the internet. Some voices speak of her with awe, others speak of her in a knocking fashion – usually because she is religious and believes passionately in God (strange that, in the modern world, someone can be knocked for what they used to be praised for). A few, however, question whether she is a “genius” – they say that her style is not that of a “genius”. They seem to be arguing that she is not a child prodigy, because her work does not manifest what, to them, is “genius”.

The debate is, I feel, based on a misunderstanding of what Akiane is and what she is doing. She showed, from a very early age, a high degree of technical skill in the making of fine art paintings. There was a very high degree of precocity in these works, such that they appeared to have been made by the steady hand and eye of a much older, more experienced artist. It is this quality of work that leads to the description of her as a child prodigy. You see, a child prodigy is any child, under 11, or so, displaying an adult degree of skill, in a domain normally reserved for adults. By this criteria, Akiane (variously also known as Akiane Kramarik, Akaine, Aki Anna, Akiana, Akiane Anna, on the internet: no doubt there are other permutations, too), is definitely a child prodigy. She may well be a genius, too. She may well turn out to be an influential and capable artist who leads the world in a new style, one day – for then she would be known as a genius, too – but, right now, she is correctly described as a child prodigy artist – or a child art prodigy, depending on which way you look at it.

The fact is, her childhood works, while of primary school age, show an uncanny facility that can only be described as prodigious. She is of a lonely breed, child prodigy artists being one of the rarest kinds of prodigy (along with child prodigy scientists, like Ainan). Akiane is a competent artist, in technical terms, compared to artists of any age. That is what qualifies her as a child prodigy artist. She does not need to be a genius, also, to win that title. (Though she may turn out to be a genius, too – time will tell.) I think it is time the internet arguers accepted Akiane Kramarik for what she is: an artist – and a child prodigy.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The World's Most Exotic Reptile

Fintan, four, is shaping up to be a child with an imagination all of his own. His remarks are so characteristic of him - and of no other - that I long ago started to call them Fintanisms. The same applies to his behaviour.

Two days ago, for reasons known only to himself, Fintan came up behind Tiarnan, twenty months, and gently pushed him to the ground so that he was on all fours, saying: "Run reptile, run!"

Then he paused, momentarily, "Oh no..." I thought, then, in that moment, that he was going to correct his odd description of his younger brother, "crawl."

Hilarious.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Amazon online book store, from Singapore.

There are many books in the world - more than are in Singapore's few bookshops. So, yesterday I thought I would order a book from Amazon.com.

Now, I had never done this before, so it took some time - but eventually I found myself on the shopping cart checkout page.

I had typed in a debit card number and given all the correct details, but when I submitted it, the following statement appeared at the top of the page:

There is a slight problem with your order.

A slight problem? What problem could there be? Had I mistyped the card number?

Down below, there was an explanation of what the "slight problem" was.

We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to the country you selected. You can enter a different shipping address above, or you can remove the item from your order by changing its quantity to 0, then clicking the Update button

To me, that seems more than a "slight problem". Amazon.com, famed online bookstore and supplier of the readers of the world, does not ship to Singapore. This, of course, poses a mystery - why not? Are Amazon's books rejected at the borders? Are they not allowed to ship to Singapore...or do they choose not to? Is there some law disallowing them?

I have no idea what is happening with regards to Amazon, but it does seem really rather strange that it is not possible to order a book, in Singapore, from the largest online book retailer.

Some books are just not available in Singapore's bookshops. I had hoped to be able to order them online - but it seems that I would have to travel to another country to secure them, directly, myself.

It would be good if Amazon actually explained why they don't ship to Singapore. Perhaps that should appear in their warning notice next time. As it is, I am only left to wonder and to guess why a simple matter of ordering a book, cannot be done, from Amazon.com, if I happen to have the wrong address.

Odd.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Daddy is on a roll

Yesterday we went for one of our habitual walks. This time it was to a strange new park, that Syahidah had christened "Stoney Mountain". It was like something out of the Hobbit. Alongside the path that wended its way through the wooded area, were large boulders that had obviously been placed there, in imitation of what might be a natural formation in some parts of the world. The effect, although artificial, was quite charming: one almost expected elves to pop out from the woods at any minute, or for a friendly hobbit to enquire after second breakfast.

My children, however, not having read such books, had no such references. Nevertheless they enjoyed it.

After we had climbed to the top of "Stoney Mountain", we began to make our way down to another path we saw cutting across the landscape far below - a shortcut, if you like. Ainan, Fintan and Syahidah ran down, hand in hand, but I, feeling a mass that once had not been mine, declined to do the same.

After they had reached the path, Fintan, four, looked back up at me and seemed to be ambushed by an idea. He ran back up the hill to meet me on the way down, shouting: "Roll, Daddy, roll!". He then got down on to the ground and began rolling down the hill, to show me what to do.

Clearly, he had conceived that Daddy, being rounder than the average boy, might do better as a ball, than as a walking man. In the distance, I could hear Syahidah and Ainan laughing at Fintan's suggestion. As for me, I looked at Fintan's rolling and the long hill down, and thought better of it. Yet, at his age, I had done the same, when confronted with a hill.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Children's Day, Singapore, October 1st

October 1st, every year, in Singapore is Children's Day. This is, as the name suggests, meant to be a day of celebration of children and childhood. At least, that is the theory.

Fintan enjoyed a party of some kind, at school, for Children's Day - and, in the evening, Syahidah arranged for an outing to mark the day. We had in mind two activities - one for Ainan and one for Fintan.

For Ainan we wanted to go to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Singapore. Ainan has an interest in tall buildings, and has an encylopaedic knowledge of their heights, locations and designs. He has even been to the top of the Petronas Twin Towers (the tallest twin towers in the world) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (He did so a few weeks ago).

However, we had not been to the top of any of Singapore's tall buildings.

Anyway, we went to UOB Plaza and into UOB tower, myself, my wife and two children in tow. We had done our research and knew that, although we couldn't go to the top (62nd storey), we should be able to go to the restaurant on the 60th floor.

Once in the lobby, I soon saw an escalator going up, with a sign on its side: "Restaurant 60th floor". I saw others taking it, upwards, one after the other. I walked towards it, trailing my family. I was within three steps of it, when a guard approached. "Where are you going?" He asked. "The restaurant." I said pointing upwards.

He looked at his watch. "Six thirty. It opens at six thirty."

He wasn't going to let us up. I could see that. The matter of the opening time of the restaurant was just an excuse. It should have been obvious why we wanted to go up to the sixtieth floor with children in tow: to see the view. That, however, was not to be allowed.

I did note that no-one else had been stopped - only us. It must have been because we had children with us. A funny thing this Children's Day: people are so charitable on it - and clearly believe in the importance of children.

Next we tried Republic Plaza. This too is a very tall tower - similar to UOB Tower.

This time I thought it best to approach the guard directly and raise the issue with him, to gain permission.

"Is it OK if I take my children up?"

"Yes. Sure." he said.

Great, I thought, that simple.

I turned to call my children in.

"Which floor?" he then asked.

"The top."

"Oh no. You can't go up there. It is a private club: the Tower Club."

It seemed that he had supposed that I was taking my children up to my office. Once it was clear that I was just visiting the matter became an impossibility.

"What about another floor? A high floor?"

"No. You can't go up. It is not open to the public." He had changed from helpful to resistive in an instant. It was almost funny to watch, were it not to our disadvantage.

"Where then?" asked Syahidah, "Where in Singapore can we go up to the top of the towers?"

"In Singapore?" he began, as if to say..."Are you mad? Don't you know what it is like around here?" "They are all closed to the public. Except for Raffles City...you could try there."

"The restaurant?"

"Yes."

No - we both thought. Not tall enough - and too far from where we were now, what with our other plans to see to.

So, Republic Plaza wouldn't let two children go up to the top on Children's Day, either.

A funny thing this Children's Day: people are so charitable on it - and clearly believe in the importance of children.

My wife didn't want to go back to try UOB Tower again for it had seemed clear that he just didn't want us to go up. There was no reason why we couldn't go up to the sixtieth while the restaurant was closed: the view would still be open.

Ainan managed not to be too disappointed, though we had failed to give him his wish for the day. Or more precisely Singapore had failed to deliver what it could so easily have done.

It is a puzzle really. I have been to New York and been to the top of the Empire State Building. No-one tried to stop me. No-one said I couldn't. I am sure, too, that I could have brought my children had they been born at the time. Most countries make tourist attractions of their tallest buildings - but not Singapore. Singapore makes a no-go area of them. I can't see why.

The next wish was easier to grant. We went to the cinema to see Azur and Azmar - a fantastic film set in a world that never was - one of Arabian magic and Djinn Fairies. My wife particularly liked it because of the drawing style of the cartoons. It was directed by Michele Ocelot and is to be recommended to those who have children whose imaginations have not yet died. Even if they have, this might perk them up a bit. I won't say too much about it, lest I do what I loathe to see others do: spoil the plot. Let us just say it takes a look at childhood, motherhood and how lives turn out. It is also a comment on brotherly love and sibling rivalry.

One thing I did note on going to the cinema was that we had to take an MRT (underground train). I have never done this before with my children in tow, since we normally use taxis with them. I was rather surprised to note one thing: there was no children's rate. Both our children paid the full adult fare. That is rather surprising, especially compared to all the other countries I have been to. Everywhere that I can recall has a children's rate for transport - and for cinemas, by the way. Our children paid the full adult rate for the film, too.

Singapore may have a Children's Day - but it is far from being a child friendly city or culture. Perhaps that is why so many potential parents, here, choose never to become parents at all. Nothing is free here. In England, kindergarten was free, when I was a child - here, in Singapore, it is most definitely not - and is really quite expensive.

Everywhere we went, on Children's Day, our children had to pay their way, like fully-fledged adults: on the train, in the cinema...and at the restaurant (no children's portions).

Personally, I think it is a very short-sighted way to build a nation. The future of the nation is the little ones, the children. Yet, despite the existence of a Children's Day - and even on Children's Day itself - children get short shrift in Singapore. There are no concessions made here for parents or children. A country that chooses not to support children, in this way, is one that won't have too many children to support. In a few short decades, such a nation, will be an ex-nation. For without children, there is no future.

It comes as no surprise that Singapore has one of the lowest total fertility rates in the world (at 1.26 births per woman, listed 186th out of 195 countries, on Wikipedia). That rate, note, is so far below replacement rate that, without immigration, Singapore would drop to 60 % of its original population in one generation. It wouldn't take too many generations for there to be nation, at all.

Everywhere we went on Children's Day, not one Singaporean showed any evidence of consideration towards our children. No-one in Singapore seemed to know that it was Children's Day - or what Children's day meant.

A funny thing this Children's Day: people are so charitable on it - and clearly believe in the importance of children.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

The brain of Neanderthal Man

Neanderthal man: what do those two words conjure up in you? For many it will be a picture of brutish stupidity. The common image of Neanderthal Man is of a dull-witted race trudging to extinction out of their own inability to cope. Yet, is this so? Was Neanderthal Man our inferior?

Let us look at some data. A typical modern human has a brain size of about 1,300 cubic centimetres. So, Neanderthal Man, being "brutish and stupid" is going to have a smaller one...right? Wrong. From a table of brain size and race that I have seen, Neanderthal man is listed at 1,700 cubic centimetres - a full 400 cubic centimetres larger than the brains of modern men.

Now, brain size has been correlated with intelligence, in many studies (I will post about this on another occasion) - but there is another factor to take into account: brain size to body ratio. A Neanderthal was stronger and more robust than a modern human - about a quarter heavier or so - and muscular with it. Taking this larger size into account still gives Neanderthal Man an advantage over us - for the ratio of 1,700 to 1,300 is about 1.30 - which is larger than the 1.25 scaling for body mass. By this measure Neanderthal Man should still have been smarter than us.

I find it curious that there has been such a tendency to denigrate the Neanderthal man. Just as in marketing, in evolution I am sure that it is not always the case, that the best "product" wins. Apple lost out to Windows - even though for a long time, it was a better product. Betamax lost out to VHS - when it, too, had been a better product. No doubt it is quite possible that a superior human could have lost out to an inferior one, for various reasons.

No-one disputes that they were stronger than us. Perhaps they were smarter too. Certainly, their brain size is suggestive of a significant intelligence, of some kind. There is other evidence, too, that they were not as stupid as people have made them out to be. They managed to move into and populate areas of Europe that had defeated their immediate ancestors, Homo Heidelbergensis, establishing themselves in Central and Eastern Europe. They also show evidence of developing new stone working techniques over time, showing a gradual accumulation of technological skill. These last two statements are supported by a paper by Dr Terry Hopkinson of the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, of the University of Leicester, published in the journal Antiquity.

Some researchers rather oddly argue away the Neanderthal's superiority in brain size by saying that modern human brains are more "efficient". They state that we have advantages in circuitry and brain organization. I find this funny. It is funny because they cannot possibly have any evidence of these statements - they are just supposition - and constitute self-justifying argumentation. We will never have a Neanderthal brain to dissect to study its circuitry. We will never be able to MRI a Neanderthal brain to study its organization. We can only succumb to the temptation to make up a story to say why modern man must be superior to our extinct counterpart. Maybe we are not superior, maybe we were just lucky (or better at warfare...) Whether or not we are superior to Neanderthal Man, the fact remains that Neanderthal Man was not the stupid brute he is made out to be. The archaelogical evidence suggests an adaptable, technologically skilled, very "human" race, which just happens to have died out for reasons that may never be entirely clear.

I, for one, would like to meet a Neanderthal man and have a talk. It would be good to meet someone so different from the Homo Sapiens one normally talks to. He (or she) is likely to think in quite a different way - and that would be refreshing. The one thing that would really surprise me, however, would be finding that they were, in fact, stupid and brutish. I have rather a different expectation.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Bird Watching and Bird Sounds.

On Saturday, we went to a national park, in Singapore. It is one of several nature parks that cater to those who prefer a greener environment than the city can offer.

As we made our way out of the park, we caught sight of some birds - very beautiful birds. They had white crests on their heads, like mohican haircuts and they had this curious whistle. Tiarnan, twenty months, perked up at this and tracked the birds with his eyes. There were about five of them gathered to one side of the pathway.

They were making a lot of noise - whistling at each other, at first and then chattering in a rapid patter than sounded like laughter.

They flew from tree to tree, nearing the path on which we stood. The flight of the birds was oddly leisurely, a slow gentle flight, that seemed almost too slow to be effective. It was as if they floated from tree to tree. I am accustomed to seeing birds that fly fast - but these birds defied that expectation. They seemed to have all the time in the world to cross from tree to tree and teased us with the possibility that their flight might be too slow and that they might fall.

The birds flew across the path to our side - and Tiarnan followed them. But something changed - where there had been a non-stop chatter, now there was silence. The birds had simultaneously decided to be quiet: all of them at once.

Tiarnan looked up at the silent birds in the foliage and said: "The dooduts don't doodut!"

Now, I thought this a marvellous piece of word use. No-one had given a name to these birds, but their bird sound could be described as a "doodut". Tiarnan had coined an onomatopoeic word to describe the birds. For him they were the "dooduts" because they made a "doodut" sound. What is also interesting is the grammar he uses. This new word "doodut" operates as a noun - and as a verb - and he made the correct changes to the word to allow it to operate as a noun and a verb, in his sentence. It seems he is very aware of the rules for formation of nouns and verbs - and how they work.

Later, we learnt what the birds were called: "White-crested laughing thrushes". My wife and I thought this funny, too - because the scientists who had named the bird, did so for the same reason that Tiarnan had: by their sound. They were the white-crested laughing thrushes - and for Tiarnan they were the "dooduts" - much the same, when you actually know what Tiarnan is referring to. It seems he had picked up on their distinguishing characteristic, just as the scientists had.

I find it interesting that a child of twenty months - as Tiarnan is - can make up a new word to fit the situation. It is also telling that the word is apt - and is a recognizable description of the bird in question. They are, indeed, "dooduts" and they do go: "doodut". So, anyone who had experienced the birds would understand what Tiarnan was referring to. Thus, creativity in language use is quite possible, even at twenty months.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Lost and missing comment posts.

It has been brought to my attention, by a blog reader from America, that comment posts are going missing.

This reader said she had written three comment posts which had not been posted - and was rather put out by it. Well, as I wrote to her, the explanation is simple: I never received the comments. Now this poses the question: how many of your comments are going missing? Is this a general phenomenon? Are people getting frustrated with comments not appearing?

Well, all I can say is that this is the second time someone has asked about comments which I have never received. There is no telling how many people might be affected by this. I post all comments unless they are mad, rude, or likely to pose a problem if read by children. Thankfully, very few posts come into those categories - so almost all comments get posted. If yours has not been posted - and it is not one of those three kinds - then it is probable that I never received your comment post.

I do not know what the problem is - but it seems that, sometimes, blogger does not pass comments onto me. It could be that the commenter is not following comment protocol and is failing to register the comments, properly. Or it could be that blogger is simply losing the comments. I do not know.

So, if you have commented and it hasn't appeared - try again - or email me with the comment and I will see if ever received the comment post in the first place. Thanks.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)

Famous inventors: John Boyd Dunlop

John Boyd Dunlop should be a familiar name to you - at least the surname Dunlop, should.

Mr. Dunlop (February 5, 1840 - October 23, 1921) was a veterinarian by training, having graduated from the University of Edinburgh. Now, although born in Scotland, he spent most of his life in Ireland, in Belfast (in what was then not "Northern Ireland", but is now). So, although Scottish by birth, you could call him a naturalized Irishman.

John Boyd Dunlop had a veterinarian practice but this is not what he became famous for. Like many a father, he paid attention to his son's doings. He couldn't help but notice that, everytime his son rode his tricycle, he seemed to be in some great discomfort. This was not surprising, since, in those days, tires (tyres Br.) were solid rubber. Every bump in the road was felt deeply. Something had to be done.

Dunlop was a man of some imagination and inventiveness. So, he took his son's tricycle and set about the task of improving the situation. He wrapped thin rubber sheets around the wheels and then glued them together. Then he pumped them up with a footpump. The world's first commercially practicable pneumatic tyre had been invented. It was 1887. In 1888, he received a patent for this invention. Sadly, however, two years later he was informed that there was some overlap with the invention of one Robert William Thomson - a Scottish inventor, curiously - who had patented a similar idea in 1846 in France and 1847 in the US. Nevertheless, Dunlop didn't let go of his idea. He sold his patent to a William Harvey Du Cros was intent on commercializing it, in exchange for 1,500 shares in the resultant company, Dunlop Tyres. (American's might insist on Dunlop Tires, I suppose!)

Though Dunlop Tyres went on to become a world beating company, their products displacing solid rubber tyres around the world, within ten years, John Boyd Dunlop himself did not make a great fortune from his invention. Yet, he is still remembered for his inventive moment, with his son - so all is not lost.

Dunlop Tyres has diversified since then - there are Dunlop Motorcycle Tires (Tyres Br.), Dunlop Truck Tires (Tyres), Dunlop Racing Tires (Tyres Br.), Dunlop Mud Tires (Tyres Br.) and beyond that into merchandizing: Dunlop bags, Dunlop golf equipment, Dunlop bowling shoes, Dunlop squash rackets (racquets Br.), Dunlop tennis rackets (racquets Br.) and Dunlop golf balls. Dunlop has become a global brand. Yet, how many know that John Boyd Dunlop was a relatively humble vet with a practice in Belfast in the 19th century? A few more, now, perhaps.

What strikes me about all of this is that although Dunlop lived a relatively quiet life, that one moment of invention for his son, changed the world, in some significant way. It was Dunlop's pneumatic tire (tyre Br.) that was commercialized. It is Dunlop tires (tyres Br.) that many of us drive around on. Dunlop could have become a big industrialist - but he didn't have the appetite - and perhaps not the aptitude - to commercialize his work - so this was done by William Harvey Du Cros. So, although Dunlop did not become a mega-rich Bill Gates type figure - as he could have done, through revolutionizing transport - he did transcend the everyday limits of his life - and left behind a brand name that continues to grow until today. Yet, all he was really trying to do was make his son's tricycle ride a little more comfortable. I find that rather sweet - but also significant. It is difficult for us to know the full impact of what we do in life. John Boyd Dunlop didn't know - and neither do we.

(If you would like to learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and ten months, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, four years and three months, and Tiarnan, twenty months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, College, University, Chemistry, Science, genetics, left-handedness, precocity, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, gifted adults and gifted children in general. Thanks.)