A friend today asked me where my interest in science came from - a question perhaps spurred by the fact that I made snide bat-ecology comments during this movie, or that I was whispering Latin binomials under my breath today during this one. After a moment of thought, I found my sentences all starting the same: my dad gave me a microscope to play with, my dad liked to help me look at things, my dad always took my questions seriously. Eventually, of course, I had to include other people - my mother, most notably, and also two fantastic high school science teachers, and a few pretty specatcular professors as well - as well as the world at large. But in many ways it was my dad who gave me the initial impetus, the idea that why is always a question worth asking. And here I am, a month and change away from graduating, and even if I don't end up in research or grad school, I've irrevocably got a scientist's brain.


Happy birthday, Daddy! Thanks!