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Posts by Molecular Biologist

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  • Vanity: Physicist and Mrs. Physicist Had a Son Today

    11/17/2001 2:14:14 AM PST · 77 of 248
    Molecular Biologist to Physicist
    You've seen him. How'd your namesake look to you?

    Pictures (even at 2.2 megapixel resolution) could never capture how adorable the little guy was when I saw him in person and held him. Needless to say, I'm elated to be an uncle again.

    My brother Physicist has always been a rational, science-minded person, but superstitious about just one thing -- the pattern of sons in our family. Our great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran, had two sons. The older one had only a daughter, and the younger had two sons. Of those sons, the older had only daughters, and the younger had two sons (my brother and I).

    For years, my brother (the older son) was always convinced that this pattern would continue, and his having two daughters only reinforced that idea. This despite the fact that I continually assured him that Mendelian genetics indicates a 50% chance of a boy each time, regardless of what came before.

    Now along comes Jake, breaking the pattern. So I'm thrilled, not just because he's a wonderful, healthy baby with a bright future, but also because he takes the pressure off me to continue the family tradition and produce two sons. But not according to Physicist or our parents, however. :-)