barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold) (01/18/85)
Your friend is thinking of ROBOTS HAVE NO TALES by Kuttner. It has five short stories in it about Galloway Gallagher, whose genius was only released when he got drunk. --Lee Gold
wilfs@clan.UUCP (Wilf Sullivan) (01/29/85)
I believe that the story that everyone is thinking of is:
"Ex Machina" by Lewis Padgette (sp?) It was published
in Analog (Astounding) a while back and the inventor (named
Galloway Gallegher becomes a super inventor only when drunk.
In the story, he has a side kick robot named Joe and a lush
of a father (who is always threatening to go back to Maine).
If you can't find the story in the Analog (Astounding) back
issues, then look it up in one of Analog's new anthologies
about humour (number 4, I think!). It's the first story...
Eugen Bacic