An excerpt

A physician, a civil engineer and a computer scientist were arguing about what was the oldest profession in the world. The physician remarked, “Well, in the Bible, it says that God created Eve from a rib taken out of Adam. This clearly required surgery, and so I can rightly claim that mine is the oldest profession in the world.” The civil engineer interrupted and said, “But even earlier in the book of Genesis, it states that God created the order of the heavens and the earth from out of the chaos. This was the first and certainly the most spectacular application of civil engineering. Therefore, fair doctor, you are wrong: mine is the oldest profession in the world.” The computer scientist leaned back in her chair, smiled and then said confidently, “Ah, but who do you think created the chaos?”

- The opening lines of a Grady Booch book

Things that struck me immediately on reading this were:

1. For the first time, a ‘she’ has been used instead of the universal ‘he’ gender.
2. The ‘modesty’ of the computer scientist.
3. The apparent depth of biblical knowledge possessed by all the three characters….. well, almost every one.
4. The author’s sense of humour – not everyone has the ability to joke about themselves.

Any more observations? :)