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> Also, I remember reading somewhere that he was a working engineer while he wrote some of his first novels; You are correct - he was an industrial engineer. I
by RoyTyrell 7y ago
> Also, I remember reading somewhere that he was a working engineer while he wrote some of his first novels;
You are correct - he was an industrial engineer. I'm not sure if he was working on a team, or just by himself, but he helped to design the machinery that creates Pringles (potato chip). He was also the editor for a trade magazine on industrial engineering.
- colinb 7y agoDo you happen to have any references for that? I in no way doubt you, but I hope to use this fact to dazzle a child when I get home; and maybe persuade her to read some top class sci-fi.
- philk10 7y agoSee #1 - http://mentalfloss.com/article/67583/12-crispy-facts-about-pringles http://mentalfloss.com/article/67583/12-crispy-facts-about-p...
- javajosh 7y agoAnd a link in that uses the phrase surreal bildungsroman, which makes me feel like I've been validated by the New Yorker. :) https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sci-fis-difficult-genius https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/sci-fis-difficul...
- pteraspidomorph 7y agoIt's in this article! You can dig through philk10's link to find the interview, which is in the google books link. There is also an internet archive link on his wikipedia page which contains the same interview. He made the part of the machine that cooks the chips.
- gwern 7y agoHe also discusses it in an interview I scanned the other week: https://www.gwern.net/docs/fiction/2002-wolfe-locusinterview.pdf https://www.gwern.net/docs/fiction/2002-wolfe-locusinterview...