My life as a physicist: Memories and perspectives

Abstract

This paper constitu~s a brief personal history from my beginnings as a physicist through the period of my discovery and consolidation of what has since become the self-consistent field theory of molecular structure. My career as a molecular theorist began only a few short years after the most traumatic experiences of my life took place during World War II. My growth as a scientist did not stop during those difficult years, but proceeded as if driven by forces independent of the surrounding events. It is only during the last decade or so that I have spoken somewhat more freely about the painful experiences described below. However, those events were always vividly present in my mind. I hope that sharing those memories with my friends and colleagues will help them to understand me better, and perhaps also the human condition. And since my training in the fundamentals of physics occurred during those years, my account may also offer some insight into how learning can, and does, occur under improbable circumstances. But first I like to turn back to my chilled, when I experienced the earliest stirrings of scientific curiosity. I am certain that my interest in science began when I was three years old. I did not understand how toasters, lamps and irons depended on a wire coming out of the wall. In those days, wall outlets were surface mounted and covered by porcelain caps. One day I found an outlet whose cap had crumbled. I began to put my finger systematically on the various exposed parts, intent on getting some response from this mysterious gadget. I finally did, in the form of an electric shock that made me withdraw my finger abruptly, and imbued me with great respect for the mysterious force I had just experienced. This was one experiment that I reported to no one; I was brought up in a proper home and had sense enough to know that, whatever I had done, it was wrong. The experience increased my prudence but in no way diminished my curiosity. By the age of seven, I was conducting less dangerous experiments with batteries, lights, switches and electric bells. Radio broadcasting was just