John was raised in country Victoria, Australia, where an uncluttered lifestyle provided ample opportunity for hands-on exposure to the wonders of nature. At the University of Melbourne he took out an honours degree in Science, thus qualifying as a Particle Physicist. Although he was well-qualified and enthusiastic, it soon became apparent that nuclear-phobic Australia offered quite limited career prospects in that field. He then completed a second degree in Electrical Engineering.

For several years John worked with Schlumberger as an oil engineer, before retiring to coastal Queensland where he established a small electronics business. It was not commonly known, but this business was purely a front to facilitate his desire to invent things. His proudest achievement was possibly the Computaphon, the world¿s first electronic phone.

None of John¿s inventions was ever commercialised as he expressed little interest beyond building prototypes and proof-of-concept. He later gravitated to software development, a pursuit which continues to this day. However, none of these ¿day jobs¿ managed to overshadow his fundamental love ?- Cosmology.