Why Do Lettuces Grow

The author traces his life from snatches of memories starting in 1940. He was brought up in a suburb, close to Cape Town, on the slopes of Devil's Peak. This area was his playground until his mid-teens. He covers events that left an indelible impression on his mind as a child and then as a teenager. He started attending the University of Cape Town at the age of 16 and shortly after, his family moved to a new home in Newlands about 10kms from Cape Town.
After graduating with a degree in Science he started his working career, first working with a manufacturer of industrial chemicals and then he relocated to the research department of a major international packaging company. His main area of work covered the interaction of food, beverages and non-food products with metal and plastic containers. During this period he authored and co-authored a number of papers, some of which were published in international scientific journals.
In 1977 he changed direction within the same company and embarked on a career in information technology and computing. Eventually he became head of the company's information technology department and during his involvement introduced minicomputers, database usage, new computing languages, standardized operating system, pcs and pc applications, and finally a company wide network linking over 2000 end users and a link to the world-wide web in 1994.
He began introducing a company- wide standard application system in the late 1980s. During his working career he traveled extensively to the UK, USA and Europe for both educational and business reasons. He also traveled to these and other countries with his wife on vacation, whenever possible. He retired in 1996 and he and his wife have continued to travel extensively, not only to other countries but all over South Africa.
In 1998 he began a deep interest in genealogy, a hobby which he still pursues today with considerable zeal. His other interests and hobbies include, reading, gardening, computers, DIY, photography, politics, history, science, evolution and human behaviour.