Word: amoebae
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...maintains that Edison could no more have stopped himself from inventing than a born punster can refrain from playing word games. Robert Conot, author of a 1979 biography of Edison, A Streak of Luck, observes that Edison's mind "multiplied devices from a single idea like a dividing amoeba and then compartmentalized the creations and endeavors." He was supremely self-confident; if prevailing opinion was that a device could not be invented, that only made Edison more convinced that it could. And Conot depicts a man who was totally open-minded about how to proceed-until he came...
Despite unconfirmed reports that Iran was being flooded with weapons, including some purportedly provided by the Palestine Liberation Organization, pro-Khomeini demonstrations have been remarkably peaceful and well disciplined. Only on occasion have crowds gotten out of control of the street marshals provided by Khomeini's amoeba-like organization. In one particularly grim example last week, a mob at the University of Tehran grabbed General Tagi Latifi, a police officer, from his car, screaming, "Kill him!" He was beaten senseless before being rescued by a group of clergymen...
...like Texas Instruments and Motorola, which are based elsewhere, throw more of their weight into the fray, the smaller companies of the valley may ultimately be forced either to merge or sell out to larger firms. That could endanger the vitality of the valley. Explains Sanders: "This industry has amoeba-like qualities. It doesn't combine very well. It splits." That characteristic is the essence of competition, and no industry has better shown its benefits than the denizens of Silicon Valley...
...Even the amoeba is a far smaller and far more powerful information processor than today's best chips." If nature can do it, scientists feel challenged...
...evolutionary terms, Seascape is a very convincing plug for the amoeba, or perhaps just plain plankton...