Parents' background; childhood in Ohio; early interest in astronomy. Undergraduate education at Miami University for two years; drafted into the Navy in 1945. After war, continued undergraduate at University of Illinois, majored in physics. Graduate school at Cal Tech in Astronomy. Began work on the 200 inch telescope with Hubble and Baade, 1951; describes in detail the process of learning how to use the 60 inch and 200 inch telescope. Comments on his collaboration with Schwarzchild. Employment at Santa Barbara Street; fellowship at Princeton. Comments on his contributions to the Hubble diagram, galactic evolution and quasars. Marriage to Mary Connelley in 1959. Describes the social and intellectual environment of Santa Barbara Street and Cal Tech. Comments on his involvement in development of the Campanas site. Describes the development of his quasar discoveries. Comments on the discipline of cosmology over his career. Explains the changes of observational techniques over his career and their implications. Describes his work on helium abundance; discusses a number of his long research programs in detail. Describes the current predictions of the Hubble constant. Comments on current state of astronomy, its public appeal, and its future.