I was born on February 19, 1956 in the middle of a snowstorm It remains one of those humorous family stories that my mother likes to tell. My father the planner had rehearsed the way to the hospital but apparently things looked a lot different at night in a blizzard. Eventually they made it and so did I, the fourth of seven children My father was a postal worker when I was very young but studied computers and became a programmer on the big IBM main frames. My mother worked as a part time schoolteacher, but mostly took care of the children at home Thinking back on it now I know we did not have much money but I never knew that growing up. My parents provided a happy environment and made their expectations clear to us. Television is bad for you, reading is good for you, and you better get an a for effort in school. What you end up doing in life is up to you. Just make sure you enjoy what you do because then you will do it well. We all pursued completely different walks of life. I became the scientist I suppose there were some early indications of my tendency to a life of curiosity. Apparently from a very young age I had a habit of asking lots of questions: what would happen if. was a favorite. And I liked having facts straight and knowing how things work and did not hesitate to give explanations to those around me, apparently to an annoying degree sometimes. I remember one day my father, at the end of his patience commenting that I was a compendium of useless infomation. I certainly can understand his plight with one of the seven having way too many questions and answers all the time. On the positive side, I learned a new word that day when I looked up compendium in the dictionary There were probably even indications that my curiosity might be scientific. Burlington Massachusetts was rural when I was young and I loved to roam and explore. I had rock collections and read children s books on geology and the history of the earth I made little volcanoes out of plaster of paris and added baking soda and vinegar to the craters to simulate volcanic eruptions. I had an accident one day that made my mother laugh to my frustration: at that young age I failed to appreciate the humor in a little boy telling his mother he had dropped a volcano on his toe! In the summer I collected butterflies, turtles, snakes and other living things. One summer m mother enrolled me in a science enrichment class for elementary school students and I was allowed to take home a microscope. I used it to look at everything I could find microorganisms from the nearby pond, leaves and blades of grass. I spent hour after hour alone, mesmerized by the tiny little things that I could seeI was born on February 19, 1956 in the middle of a snowstorm. It remains one of those humorous family stories that my mother likes to tell. My father the planner had rehearsed the way to the hospital but apparently things looked a lot different at night in a blizzard. Eventually they made it and so did I, the fourth of seven children. My father was a postal worker when I was very young but studied computers and became a programmer on the big IBM main frames. My mother worked as a part time schoolteacher, but mostly took care of the children at home. Thinking back on it now I know we did not have much money but I never knew that growing up. My parents provided a happy environment and made their expectations clear to us. Television is bad for you, reading is good for you, and you better get an A for effort in school. What you end up doing in life is up to you. Just make sure you enjoy what you do because then you will do it well. We all pursued completely different walks of life. I became the scientist. I suppose there were some early indications of my tendency to a life of curiosity. Apparently from a very young age I had a habit of asking lots of questions: 'what would happen if.?' was a favorite. And I liked having facts straight and knowing how things work and did not hesitate to give explanations to those around me, apparently to an annoying degree sometimes. I remember one day my father, at the end of his patience, commenting that I was a 'compendium of useless information'. I certainly can understand his plight with one of the seven having way too many questions and answers all the time. On the positive side, I learned a new word that day when I looked up compendium in the dictionary. There were probably even indications that my curiosity might be scientific. Burlington Massachusetts was rural when I was young and I loved to roam and explore. I had rock collections and read children's books on geology and the history of the earth. I made little volcanoes out of plaster of paris and added baking soda and vinegar to the craters to simulate volcanic eruptions. I had an accident one day that made my mother laugh to my utter frustration: at that young age I failed to appreciate the humor in a little boy telling his mother he had dropped a volcano on his toe! In the summer I collected butterflies, turtles, snakes and other living things. One summer my mother enrolled me in a science enrichment class for elementary school students and I was allowed to take home a microscope. I used it to look at everything I could find: microorganisms from the nearby pond, leaves and blades of grass. I spent hour after hour alone, mesmerized by the tiny little things that I could see