I was one who liked to work with my hands as well as my brain.
— William Standish Knowles
In those days industry would hire any chemist that could breathe.
I was particularly good at math and science.
To my father, business was the highest calling, but to my mother, medicine was the top profession.
My family background was heavily slanted toward business and seafaring matters.
Later in the fifties I got involved in kinetic studies using my long forgotten math background.
At Harvard I majored in chemistry with a strong inclination toward math.
In those days I was terrible at athletics and never made a team, but quite easily led my class in academics.
My family gave me the best in education.
I was born in Taunton, Massachusetts on June 1, 1917, but I actually grew up in nearby New Bedford.
At the time my dog had a fungus on her chest that wouldn't heal and resisted treatment. I made an ointment with our product and it cleared up in two days. She lived to 17 years.
At this point I was strongly advised that I was too young socially to go to college so I took a second senior year at Andover, another boarding school.
I'll never forget the fall colors on the Berkshires.
I can't think of any relatives that ever went into science.
