Dr Wood spent a childhood in a Victorian urban sanctuary hidden in Lancashire away from the Satanic mills of Manchester and commercial energy of Liverpool. He received spiritual awakening and guidance in the ancient universities of St Andrews in Scotland and Oxford in England. Philosophy and Chemistry make great bedfellows. He speaks English and Spanish fluently, Italian, French and Portuguese less well. He has tried to learn German, Chinese, Arabic, Japanese and Russian and now, with the aid of Google translator, can navigate all languages. He has traveled the world and is a passionate collector of antiques.