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I dropped chemistry. I practically blew up the lab in college.

Chemistry was always my weakest subject in high school and college.

I was quite nerdy at school. I skipped a year and won a scholarship in chemistry.

I failed chemistry. I almost failed algebra.

I was not an especially diligent student but nevertheless obtained a reasonable education in physics.

I was a decent student but not a great student.

I am a passionate reader, having been tutored very early by my mother. I avidly devoured all books on chemistry that I could find. Formal chemistry at school seemed boring by comparison, and my performance was routine. In contrast, I did spectacularly well in mathematics and sailed through classes and exams with ease.

If I were to take an undergraduate chemistry exam, I would probably fail.

You just can't fake chemistry.

I abandoned chemistry to concentrate on mathematics and physics. In 1942, I travelled to Cambridge to take the scholarship examination at Trinity College, received an award and entered the university in October 1943.