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Mark Malseed, co-author of The Google Story, takes an in-depth look at Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his family, mother Eugenia (NASA research scientist), father Michael (mathematics professor), and brother Sam. Here's what Mark saw when he entered Sergey's spacious Googleplex office 211, shared with Larry Page:

Stepping through the sliding glass door into their office is like walking into a playroom for tech-savvy adults. A row of sleek flat-screen monitors lining one wall displays critical information: email, calendars, documents and, naturally, the Google search engine. Assorted green plants and an air purifier keep the oxygen flowing, while medicine balls provide appropriately kinetic seating. Upstairs, a private mezzanine with Astroturf carpeting and an electric massage chair afford Sergey and Larry a comfortable perch from which to entertain visitors and survey the carnival of innovation going on below.

Mark also traces the roots of Sergey in Russia. "My rebelliousness, I think, came out of being born in Moscow," Sergey reflects.


His family were faced with anti-Semitism, and Sergey didn't feel quite like home as kid (asked if he still feels anti-Semitism today, Sergey replies that "[t]he Wikipedia page about me will be subtly edited in an anti-Semitic way"). His family migrated to the US in 1979, when Sergey was 6. When Michael Brin took 17-year old Sergey back to Russia for a trip, Sergey's impulse on confronting Soviet oppression had been "to throw pebbles at a police car" (the parents were able to deal with the police officers inside, who were "quite upset" at the matter).

[Thanks Mark!]

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About the Author

Philipp Lenssen from Germany, author of 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google, shares his views & news on the search industry in the daily Google Blogoscoped.