The author was born in Buffalo, New York before World War II. He grew up on a farm that was near Norwalk, Ohio, where he developed a keen interest in astronomy and botanical sciences. His high school years were spent in Trenton, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. After graduating from high school, he elected to join the US Army. He served in the communication security services in Germany for two years, stationed in Bavaria, near Nuremberg. Following honorable discharge, he enrolled at Bowling Green State University, in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he spent three years of undergraduate study in Polit...