Family background and early interests, knowledge of Russian, the eclipse of 1925, the Depression; studies and teaching at City College of New York, fellow students, Mollier surfaces, graduate work at Princeton, infrared spectroscopy, Einstein/Bohr controversy, ideas about macromolecules, infrared spectrum of liquid nitrogen; marriage, war effort work on the proximity fuse, the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins, work with Alpher, Gamow, Wallis, work at University of Maryland, General Motors, University of Texas, consulting and committee work, editorships, committee work, speculations about creativity in science.