I was born in Palo Alto, California in 1961.

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.

Between rounds of speed chess I read enough of a programming manual to teach myself to write programs on the school's DEC mainframe in the language Basic.

I certainly remember building model rockets. It was fun to watch the rocket blast into the air, suspenseful to wonder if the parachute would open to bring the rocket safely back.

Most of my teachers probably found I made less trouble if they let me read.

I was partly old-fashioned and partly modern.