Tom Brown

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I have 273 stories published in 24 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 403454 times and 18 of my stories have been cherry picked.
443 of my 3,042 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 446 votes

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Tom Brown

Born South-African, I went to a dual medium primary school and Afrikaans high school, NG Church mostly and sunday school Methodist. At school achieved top positions in science and mathematics olympiads, after as well completing two years of engineering studies with very good results but I did not graduate, I had to stop due to mental health problems.

Graduating under WK Bartoszek at Unisa, MSc (1997) and Pretoria University, Niko Sauer PhD (2006), formal interests were to be in abstract analysis and broadly in applied mathematics. All of my qualifications were with honours.

I had permanent teaching positions at Unisa and at Wits, however since not having been academically active, and as such absent from formal academic research for very long now, years. Advanced study and research was in Markov operators and stochastic processes; vector valued Laplace transforms applied to semigroups and families of evolution equations (Empathies).
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Unfortunately I have had a history of medical treatment for psychiatric illness with diagnosis of a bipolar mood disorder.

It was very fortunate in that my condition responded very well to medicine it helps if you cooperate and comply, if not, you don't have much of a chance. Also I am totally abstinent from alcohol and other mood altering substances for great many years, it did not accord with my constitution at all. As a chain smoker I also managed to kick the habit, more than a decade smoke-free now, by the Grace of God.

I have always been able to function completely normal and independently in society my isolation was not because of my own doing it was due to circumstances, and has just been getting stricter I seem to have almost no contact outside, save only for AbcTales. My saving grace.

I am  totally isolated and financially barely getting by. 

Although I am still studying mathematics and applications, more popular accessible kind of work, while interested and looking forward to hopefully be active in research or industry again.

God is in the details of the details. God is in the timing of the timing.
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Apart from studies in the natural sciences I am interested in languages and literature in general as well as religion. In high school I majored in German also, and Biology, in the meanwhile I have taught myself French, well enough to read (with a bit of difficulty).

Lately I have been writing more popular general interest essays and also trying for a bit of balance with mathematics and while keeping things understandable for most people.

Thus not involved at all with any social media, and having time for writing, leisure, watching movies, reading fiction, classics mostly, poetry and  music. I miss my friends, and would really love getting outdoors and in nature more.
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Favourite authors are Jules Verne, HG Wells and Jack London, Shakespeare and poets William Blake and Dylan Thomas. I like adventure, science fiction and fantasy movies my all time greatest are the Narnia stories and the Lord of the Rings.

The meal best enjoyed is a breakfast of bacon eggs on toast fried chips with fresh orange juice, and for supper an ox-tail stew. I like eating out romantic. For recreation nature hikes, camping and fishing, listening to good music and reading, classics mostly, and good movies. I love dogs my best one was a Maltese poodle Freddy.

I love rain and lightning thunderstorms and rainbows. As well as writing and publishing here on AbcTales.
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These are my stories!

Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the Stars!

 

 

My stories

Empathy

Having been accused of reckless driving, once we were working the whole morning and getting tired, Prof Sauer said call it a day for lunch I said “...

Geometry of Waterfalls

A challenge, for our budding young engineers. Given are two problems on free falling liquid, the first being straightforward. The second I found not...

Time Gentlemen!

“What do you think of the institution of marriage? “It is a good thing if you like living in an institution.” The institution of holy monotony. -...

Geyser Model Problem

This problem was suggested by a friend who claimed one could make money with it for applications. This is my effort it is a typical engineering...
1 likes

What goes up!

An example of the concept of unstable equilibrium is when an (ice-cream?) cone is balanced on its bottom point, the slightest nudge will make it fall...

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443 of my comments have received 446 Great Feedback votes

2 Votes

Lovit!

Posted on Sun, 24 Aug 2025

Lovit! " and I can't sleep right so I had a pillow fight" she knows what she's talking about!

- Tom

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Posted in Oh it's the middle night

2 Votes

Sorry Di I honestly did not mean

Posted on Sun, 06 Feb 2022

Sorry Di I honestly did not mean to criticise your work at all and I don't recall that I ever have. It is a great poem. But please keep in mind any good teacher knows one often learns more from your mistakes and by the way I'm also out of a job....

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Posted in February Rainbow

2 Votes

Those old magic photos

Posted on Mon, 07 Oct 2024

Those old magic photos Jenny! I think they call them kodak moments. Something like that. These days people have so many photos they're hard to find Hey? What strikes me how happy we are me & my brother on all of them there are hundreds codac...

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Posted in Magic Of Youth

2 Votes

enough

Posted on Tue, 27 Aug 2024

You never know what is enough, untill you know what is too much / The road excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

I read these in poems of William Blake, in the proverbs of hell.

Good luck! Tom

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Posted in Never Enough?

2 Votes

The elephant and ant

Posted on Tue, 25 Jun 2024

The elephant and ant were walking together over the bridge, the ant said "We make this bridge shake hey?!"

We usually say an elephant "trumpets" or such, but you can say "roar" if you like why not?

Keep well, greetings from Africa!...

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Posted in Extreme differences!

2 Votes

Yes

Posted on Tue, 14 Sep 2021

Yes. Beautiful ending, man's best friend. Heartbreaking sometimes we feel a duty for mourning. And indeed, it is much more noble to live for someone than to die for someone, sometimes living takes great courage.

Keep well Paul! Tom

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Posted in With or Without You

2 Votes

No doubt inspired

Posted on Mon, 16 Mar 2020

No doubt inspired by Jules Verne's classic scifi novel 20,000 leagues under the sea. Also makes one think of Jacques C. and the research ship the Calypso.

Good work, original too! We are in, looking out, man and fish roles reversed! Who's...

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Posted in Here Be Dragons

2 Votes

it's good to be young

Posted on Fri, 14 Mar 2014

It's good to be young and insane.

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Posted in Mental Illness

1 Vote

we all did

Posted on Mon, 15 Dec 2025

When I was in primary school we all did. They feed on leaves you put in the box - either lettuce or mulberry leaves but you have to stick to one. At first they are tiny but they grow quickly munching the leaf edges ravenously and we buy sell or...

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Posted in Perilous journey

1 Vote

The Rainbow Nation

Posted on Thu, 28 Aug 2025

The Rainbow Nation

South Africa

“There is always something new from Africa”.

~

https://www.abctales.com/collection/south-africa-0

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Posted in Out of Africa

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