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In 1955, I got my degree in electrical-mechanical engineering. I realised, however, that my interest was less in practical applications than in the understanding of the underlying theoretical structure, and I decided to learn physics.

I was never strong at maths, but I eventually got onto a university physics/astronomy course, and that led on to my Ph.D. and eventual employment.

I went to college because my father thought that I should learn engineering, because he wanted to go into the heating business with me. There, I realized I wanted to be a physicist. I had to tell him, which was a somewhat traumatic experience.

When I was a college student at Yale, I was studying physics and mathematics and was absolutely intent on becoming a theoretical physicist.

I wanted to be a scientist. But I had no math skills.

Hard to be a physics major at Rice University if you have flunked calculus.

I was going to engineering school but fell in love with physics.

Early in my career, I wanted to be a mathematician.

I was always good at math and science and physics.

At school I briefly wanted to be a palaeontologist, but I was no good at chemistry and physics.