Look and Listen

Biography

My father was a Chemical Engineer and professor of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Illinois, in Urbana. I had the privilege of growing up in a University town. When I was in grade school I was interested in all aspects of science. I collected rocks, minerals fossils, insects and many other things as a child. Not surprisingly I attended college at the University of Illinois after my father moved to Purdue University. I took my medical training at Northwestern University Medical School graduating in 1958. I had a general internship, a residency in Internal Medicine and a Fellowship in Hematology at Cook County Hospital, in Chicago, then the largest hospital in the world. At the time that I took hematology, so many exciting things were happening in the field of genetics that I decided to take a second fellowship in human genetics at the University of Washington in Seattle. I subsequently became the Head of the Department of Medical Genetics at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Southern California where I remained for 37 years. From 1968 until 1979 I was involved in both clinical genetics and basic research into human chromosome structure and DNA metabolism. In 1980 I undertook a major switch to become involved in the molecular and clinical genetics of human behavior especially relating to Tourette Syndrome (TS), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Conduct Disorder. I meet my second wife Brenda, at the City of Hope where she was a social worker. We were married in 1982 and we treated childhood behavioral disorders as a team. I provided the medical care and she the psychological support. We had one the largest Tourette Syndrome-ADHD clinics in the world. In 1988 I compiled my experience into an 800-page book entitled Tourette Syndrome and Human Behavior. I set up Hope Press to publish it and numerous other books by other authors on similar subjects. In the mid 1980s I was editor of the American Journal of Human Genetics and was president of the American Society of Human Genetics in 1998. In 2001, Brenda died of complications of orthopedic surgery. By the time I retired from the City of Hope Medical Center a year later I had written over 470 scientific papers and three books. Since retiring I have written a third book on evolution and the neurology and genetics of the rational and spiritual brain entitled Did Man Create God? In 2004 I meet Sally. She was just beginning to learn to play golf. On a whim I bought a set of clubs and horned in on her lessons. Soon we were both hooked. We were married in Maui on February 17th, 2008 and we now both live in Monrovia.

Inspiration

After I retired I had time to read many interesting books. Some of these presented the Intelligent Design (ID) argument that some parts of animals and humans were so complex that they could not have evolved without God’s help. My 37 years in the field of genetics indicated to me that these authors clearly had only a rudimentary knowledge of genetics and evolution. I began to write a series of essays showing how each of the ID objections could be easily explained by evolution. Based on my experience with neurobehavioral disorders I also wrote about many aspects of the human brain especially those relevant to the question of why humans are such a spiritual species. These led to assays on the genetics and evolution of spirituality and reason. By the time I finished I had a whole book relevant to many issues surrounding the subject of science and religion. I entitled the book “Did Man Crete God?” Its subtitle was “Is Your Spiritual Brain at Pease with Your Thinking Brain?” to emphasize the theme that despite the fact that faith is often at odds with our thinking scientific brain, when we understand the biological basis of our spirituality, they do not have to be in conflict.