The remoteness of my parents from the schools, so unfashionable today, was often painful for me, but I learned early to deal with an outside and sometimes hard world.

Whatever the course, whether the course was boring or interesting to me, whether I was talented in mathematics or not talented in languages, my parents expected A's.

My parents regarded school teachers as higher beings, as did many immigrants.

It was good fortune to be a child during the Depression years and a youth during the war years.

There were two free public libraries within walking distance of my home; I remember taking six books home from every visit, the limit set by the library.

Going to school and working for good marks, indeed working for very good marks, was a serious business.

Experimental science is a craft and an art, and part of the art is knowing when to end a fruitless experiment. There is a danger of becoming obsessed with a fruitless experiment even if it goes nowhere.