[...] We live our lives surrounded by gadgets of almost unimaginable technological achievement, yet we understand almost nothing of the fundamental nature of our toys, nor of the science that made them possible.

How many of you reading this can honestly say that you have more than the faintest idea of how, say, an iPod works? A GPS navigator? The internet?

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Punk rock philosopher. Liberalist contrarian. Grumpy old bastard. I grew up in a generational-Labor-voting family. I kept the faith long after the political left had abandoned it. In the last decade...