This reminds me of my brother who is a high energy physicist ... he liked to break into places and pick locks just for fun.
Interesting. Feynman, also a physicist, became an expert at fixing radios as a child (and earned money doing this; that was in 1930s, during the depression). *Practical* interest in 'how things work'.
... In fact, I think he was delayed with a lot of motor skills and never got into sports at all. Fits the stereotypical clumsy geek image in that respect. My DS seems to be following in his footsteps and looks like he will be very good at math (he doesn't get it from me!). He is also poor with motor skills. I wonder what it is about kids who are very mathy or geeky being on the clumsy side of things. I think there is something to the stereotype.
Exposure. DC was *very* clumsy - until he started going to a good gymnastics program (not rigorous by any means, just good - for everybody). He is now better than many of his age-peers. (And now off-the-topic: *absence* of exposure matters a lot - sorry, I do not want to derail the thread.)
