Why I love geeks .. every single spotty, speccied, stuttering one of them...

On Thursday night the absolutely delectable Brian Cox was talking on the 7:30 report. When I should have been hearing him say: 

"I actually think it's the Higgs Boson and the Higgs Boson seems esoteric sometimes when you talk about it, but this is a theory that's been around since the '60s and the proposal is almost bizarre - is that less than a billionth of a second after the universe began something condensed out into empty space and it’s the Higgs field. It's almost as if you could say this space now (holding hands in front of himself) is full of Higgs particles, really full of them. There's actually more energy in one cubic metre of space due to the Higgs field than the Sun outputs in 1,000 years. Bizarre theory. But the theory is that things get mass by bumping into those Higgs particles, by interacting with them, so rattling around, if you like, in this empty space."

All I heard was:

"I actually think it's the Higgs Boson blah, blah, blah, billionth of a second after the universe began blah, blah, blah is full of Higgs particles, really full of them. There's more energy in blah blah blah, interacting with them, so rattling around, if you like, in this empty space."

My reaction shocked me. Instead of listening intently to the wonders of smashing particles together and the discovery of the Higgs boson particle, I was gazing at this divine creature of science like a star struck tween watching her first Justin Bieber interview.

It got me thinking about geeks in my life and how brilliant they are. For a start, there is the Propeller head and father of our two children. Then there are the brilliant people I work with every day, solving difficult problems and doing more for the advancement of the mining industry than some of our so called leaders. I quickly realised that I love geeks. Does this make me a geek too? Those of you tuned into Big Brother on Thursday night rather than the 7:30 report will probably think I am but I'll use the following as my defense: 

Reasons why I don't think I'm a geek:

1. I know nothing about Star Trek. Almost nothing anyway. There are Cling Ons I think? But I don't know much more than that. In fact I just looked up cling on and discovered that they are actually Klingons.. Sorry nerds...
2. I've never read the Hobbit. I know that they are small. Do they have pointy ears like the people on Star Trek? Perhaps they are related somehow?
3. I don't know the difference between C++ and Java. It seems strange to name one coffee based on it's origin and the other after the average grade on my primary school reports though.
4. I hate hate hate hate hate role playing games. In fact dressing up for a Medieval Night Ball  a few months ago was terrifying. There is no visible difference between that and mock sword fights or playing Dungeons and Dragons. 
5. And, I'm too scatterbrained and impulsive to be a geek. Learning how to use a 16 sided dice, write in PHP or sit through all the Star Trek movies requires patience and concentration. I was provided a low dose in both...

Having established, conclusively, my credentials as 'not a geek', I feel I can objectively share my top 5 geeks:

Brian Cox
What I really love about this particular geek is his enthusiasm and passion for science. He smiles when he talks and he wants us to be as excited about smashing particles together as he is. I still don't get what he's talking about but he makes me want to. Judging by his Twitter profile there's about a million other people who find him just as nerdilly spectacular as me.

Leonardo da Vinci

Surely the king of geeks. Sculptor, musician,  mathematician, botanist, writer, geologist (!!!), architect, painter, artist, poet, scientist and engineer! No wonder Mona Lisa is smirking. Those super-strong connections between his left and right brain dreamed up helicopters and solar power about 500 years before we really needed them!

Professor Frink (the Simpsons)
Every town needs a Professor Frink. While he invented a death ray, he didn't really want to use it. His other brilliant gems include a house that sprouts legs and runs away when burglars arrive and hamburger earmuffs. 

Alexander Graham Bell
Without the phone, would we have the smart phone? I rest my case. 

The Propeller head
The man responsible for introducing me (well introducing me to their ideas anyway) to the wonderful contribution of geeks is my husband the Propeller head. He is the only person to have ever said "when nano-bots take over the world' at a dinner party" and managed further invites. His hobbies include building drones and working on the next 'big app'.

Geeks change our world in wonderful ways and I love them all.

I salute you geeks. Make that a Vulcan Salute!