A brief visit to Nepal started my insatiable love for Asian art.

I recognized that teaching and research institutions vitally depend on the involvement of active scientists also in management functions.

I became almost immediately fascinated by the possibilities of trying out all conceivable reactions with them, some leading to explosions, others to unbearable poisoning of the air in our house, frightening my parents.

I thus decided to leave the university forever and tried to find an industrial job in the United States.

However, I survived and started to read all chemistry books that I could get a hand on, first some 19th century books from our home library that did not provide much reliable information, and then I emptied the rather extensive city library.

On the theoretical side, I was concerned with stochastic resonance.

In recent years, more and more of my time has become absorbed by administrative work for the research council of ETH-Z of which I am presently the president.