"Sherwood B. Nice" is – obviously – a pen name, stage name, internet name, username, or whatever else you might want to call it. It was chosen because it sounds exactly like the phrase, "Sure would be nice . . ." (recall that one of the goals of marketing nearly anything is to choose a name people will notice, and remember).

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Who is the private person, behind that name? That is easy enough to find out, from any of a dozen sources, all free, on the internet. If you cannot find out the name of the private person behind the "Sherwood B. Nice" name, in less than 5 minutes, you should be embarrassed.

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Nevertheless, I hereby ask anyone and everyone to respect the fact that the private person behind that name wants to remain a private person, to focus on the work.

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So, on the age-old basis of "reciprocal" transactions (i.e., if you do THIS for me, then I'll do THAT, for you; also called "quid pro quo" and other things), here is my offer – if you will respect my privacy, and not go blasting my name around in any articles, internet posts, or whatever, then I will do what I can to cooperate with you, in return. By contrast, if I learn that you've been spreading around my private name, then I will do all I can to ignore you, not cooperate, etc. Fair enough?

 

For now, please just accept the following as true, because it is.

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I am, indeed, both a scientist (i.e., the endless search for truth, using experiments and the scientific method), and an engineer (i.e., what can we design, build, and create, using what we already know?). I even have a degree called "Engineering Sciences" (since I custom-compiled it from both science and engineering courses), from a major university, with a GPA of 3.9. Since I had strong math and science skills, I decided to use them to try to help clean up pollution, to make the world a better place, so that I could feel pride and fulfillment in what I was doing, rather than living in a shadow-world of excuses and rationalizations.

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However, during those studies, I decided to work for several years as an engineer, to learn what "real engineering" was like (i.e., in industry, at a company that has to make a profit, to stay in business), and then go to law school. Why? Because it had become painfully clear, while studying the laws and other factors that govern environmental protection, that most lawyers, legislators, and politician do not know nearly enough about science, technology, or reality, and our society needs more lawyers who can actually understand science and engineering.

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After college, I worked as an engineer for three years, where I became the liaison between the engineering staff, and the legal staff, at a large (and polluting) multi-national company (my job title was "Regulations Engineer"). I do not apologize for working at a big dirty polluting company, for the simple and compelling reason that, if you want to actually help solve problems, you usually have to go where the problems are. I became "the resident environmentalist" while there; I rode a bicycle to work, every day, rain or shine; and, I realized that I would NOT have a productive, happy, and successful career, if I stayed there, because I was more of a "cost problem" than a "team player" who would always do whatever was most profitable for the company.

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I then went to one of the world's best law schools, thinking (quite sincerely) that I would become an environmental lawyer. But, while there, I realized that most lawyers who claim to be environmental lawyers are actually polluter lawyers – for the simple reason that polluters pay cash, while the environment doesn't. If you ever meet a lawyer at a reception, party, or whatever, who claims to be an environmental lawyer, ask him or her, "Oh, really? Who are your 10 biggest clients? Who actually pays for your services?" He or she most likely will dodge and evade the question, and then drift away (or leave in a huff) within the next minute or two, thinking you're a jerk for asking a question like that.

So, falling back on my science/engineering skills, I became a patent lawyer, instead. I didn't sue people; instead, I only obtained patents, for inventors, and tried to help them license their patents, create start-up companies, or otherwise turn their inventions into commercial successes, and available products that will actually help people, mostly in the biomedical field, and in environmental technology. I've also done some inventing myself, and I own roughly a dozen patents, in several different fields.

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That's all the personal information I choose to share, for now. I want to focus on the work, instead of having people focus on me.

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