"My father gave me the thirst for knowledge: Every dinner table conversation was a thorough treatise of a subject from K3 surfaces to Babylonian tablets, from Russian literature to ship navigation. He also gave me my thinking voice, on which I’ve come to rely more and more: If a computation is suspicious, throw it out and begin anew. When in doubt, write it down. Did you do an example? Shut your calendar, hide your clock and think. . . If I occasionally find the light, it is because of you."