I turned my attention for a while to gamma ray astronomy and soon began the first in a continous series of experiments at the Savannah River site to study the properties of the neutrino.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Physicists are interested in measuring neutrino properties because they tell us about the structure of the Standard Model, the well-tested theory that describes matter's most basic elements and interactions.
From my earliest days, I was fascinated by science.
I got into science fiction by being interested in astronomy first.
I did a thesis in experimental nuclear physics under the direction of Samuel K. Allison.
About 1960, it became clear that it was best for me to bring the experimental part of my research program to a close - there was too much to do on the theoretical aspects - and I began the process of winding down the experiments.
It never ceases to amaze me that every second of every day, more than 6,000 billion neutrinos coming from nuclear reactions inside the sun whiz through my body, almost all of which will travel right through the earth without interruption.
I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.
I had studied at Harvard and MIT astronomy and a lot about the heavens and the star system and so forth.
From my earliest days I had a passion for science.
My first undertaking in the way of scientific experiment was in the field of economics and psychology.