I Was Born In Montreal In 1939,

About Seven Years Later I Was Given A Book About The Periodic Table Of The Elements. For The First Time I Saw The Elegance Of Scientific Theory And Its Predictive Power.

I Should Mention That While I Was Growing Up, Einstein Was Presented As A Worthy Role Model For A Young Boy Who Was Good At His Studies.

Nevertheless, As Is A Frequent Occurrence In Science, A General Hypothesis Was Constructed From A Few Specific Instances Of A Phenomenon.

By The Time I Reached High School My Father's Grocery Store Had Made Our Life Adequately Comfortable And I Was Able To Choose, Without Any Practical Encumbrances, The Subjects That I Wanted To Pursue In College.

I Spent Eighteen Months As A Graduate Student In Physics At Columbia University, Waiting Unhappily For An Opportunity To Work In A Laboratory And Wondering If I Should Continue In Physics.