Welcome to Unexplained Extra, with me Richard McClain Smith. For the weeks in between episodes,

we look at the stories that for one reason or other didn't make it into the show.

In last week's episode, demons in suburbia, we looked at the tragic story of Michael Taylor

and in the process touched on the notion of free will. The degree to which any of us can

be truly held accountable for our actions is a complex and controversial subject.

For one man in particular, it became an obsession for which he would ultimately give his life.

The story of Maverick Academic George R. Price is nothing short of astonishing.

On close to New York City in 1922, George was raised single-handedly by his mother after the

premature death of his father when George was only four years old. Despite an impoverished

childhood exacerbated by the Great Depression, the precocious George went on to graduate

with a degree in chemistry from the University of Chicago before taking a teaching post at Harvard.

At some point, George met and fell in love with Julia Madigan, a devout Roman Catholic.

The pair were married and later had two daughters Anne-Marie and Kathleen.

For many, the relationship seemed a strange fit due to George's equally devout atheism.

It was a contention that would ultimately prove irreconcilable and the pair divorced in 1955.

By his mid-40s, George had become deeply unsatisfied. Despite working a number of prestigious

jobs, what drove George more than anything according to author Aaron Harmon was a desperate

desire to achieve greatness. For George, his wasn't obviously superior

intellect, but one that had yet to establish the notoriety it deserved. But all that was

about to change. Whilst working for IBM, George became convinced that colleagues were unfairly

profiting from his ideas. Then, in 1966, George was left paralyzed after a botched operation

to remove a tumour from his thyroid. One night, lying in bed, George became convinced

...