EUREKA - AND OTHER PLEASURES

At first one is very pleased at being invited to write a Prefatory Cha pter, but as the delivery deadline draws closer one begins to think, ' 'Oh my God! What on earth can I say that all but family members and fe w close friends will not find a great bore?'' One solution is to write a scientific essay, but I concluded that that was a cop-out. I decide d that perhaps the best tack to follow was to try to convey to the rea der the personal characteristics I bring to my science and to other as pects of my professional career. The writing of this chapter has certa inly convinced me that my particular background influenced what proble ms I chose to work on and how I approached their solution, but I hope that my results have a more ecumenical significance. There's been much written recently about how one's cultural background affects one's sc ience, but I think that thesis can also be exaggerated. Science is a m ethod of inquiry that by using certain guidelines permits rational ind ividuals to observe Nature in a way that their findings will agree and have permanence. We shouldn't be diffident about defending that claim of objectivity.