WHO
My birth name is Ed Gerstner.
My Chinese name is ??? [Yìn Gézhì].
This loosely translates as ‘print physics’. I chose ? [Yìn] because it looks like ‘ED’. And I chose ?? [Gézhì] partly because it’s a classical Chinese word for ‘physics’ (as opposed to the contemporary word for physics, ?? [wuli]). But mostly because it is a shortened version of the phrase ????? [zhìzh? zài géwù] — “knowledge lies in the investigation of things” — which comes from a book of the Confucian Canon, ?? [Dà Xué] — “The Great Learning”. And it encapsulates everything that I aspire to.
WHAT
I’m currently an Executive Research Consultant for Nature Communications and NPG in China.
Until I moved to China, I hosted a radioshow, Big Science FM, that was broadcast live every Wednesday at 9pm London time on Resonance 104.4 FM.
Previous to this, I’ve been an editor for Nature Physics, Nature Materials, Nature, chief-editor and writer for the now defunct Nature Physics Portal and NPG Materials Update websites, a postdoctoral research scientist at the universities of Sydney, Cambridge and Surrey, and at Philips Research Labs, Redhill, a professional photographer, banknote consultant, glass consultant, elevator operator, shoe salesman, and a koala. I have a PhD in physics.
WHERE
My people come from Hungary, Poland, the US, England and Australia.
I was born in Honolulu (in the same hospital where Barak Obama claims to have been born), moved to Chicago when I was 4, Melbourne when I was 5, Sydney at 14, and Cambridge at 27, and London at 29, Cambridge again and then London again.
I now live in Shanghai. You can follow my exploits (well mostly just what I’ve been eating) on my Tumblr: Shanghai-Ed: Note from the East.
I hold three passports (US, Australian and British) and am confused about who to support in the World Cup.
WHY
Despite having spent countless hours venting online since the mid-80s (initially on bulletin boards with my beloved System-80 and a 300 baud V.21 modem, then Usenet, and so on), I’ve never kept a blog. Why now? I’m still working that out.
‘Silent-typewriter’?
In the late ’80s, radio JJJ sport commentators H. G. Nelson and “Rampaging” Roy Slaven had the ingenious idea of securing sponsorship for any dead air that would occasionally occur during their weekly show This Sporting Life. This sponsorship was provided by The Silent Typewriter Company of Drummoyne. I liked the name. The domain was available. The rest is history.
Standard disclaimer
Obviously, any views I express on my blog are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer or my journal. If I ever want to say anything useful that does reflect the shared opinion of my journal, I’ll say it in the journal.
Contact
If you need to reach me, try feedback at silent-typewriter.com.
