There are relatively few experiments in atomic physics these days that don't involve the use of a laser.

The postdoc explained to me how to distinguish different sorts of particles on the basis of the amounts of energy they deposited in various sorts of detectors, spark chambers, calorimeters, what have you.

As it was, I realized choosing the study of Chinese literature as my life's work was probably a mistake.

My fellow students there were very smart, but the really novel thing was that they actually seemed to put a lot of effort into their school work. By the end of my first semester there, I began to get into that habit as well.

After a semester or so, my infatuation with computers burnt out as quickly as it had begun.

My father was a professor of civil engineering at MIT, and my mother taught high school English.

There are relatively few experiments in atomic physics these days that don't involve the use of a laser.