Our stay (1975-76) at the Center was magical, felt to be so both at the time and in retrospect– a terrestrial alternative to Schiller’s blessed Elysium: From the moment we arrived, the remarkable staff of the Center took care of virtually all needs, even providing a study for Nina to work, while I, in sunny comfort, often watched by the peaceful cattle beyond the fence, could turn out a book (Scientific Imagination, Harvard University Press, 1978, 1998).
While doing it, I profited from the easy, collegial interactions with other Fellows from the whole spectrum of scholarship. I still remember the useful discussions, after I had given a talk at the Center on what became a crucial chapter in the book, on the famous fight between R. A. Millikan and Felix Ehrenhaft over the question whether sub-electrons existed. For her part, Nina’s sculptures, California-inspired, were later widely exhibited.
The Center has never been needed more than today, when cultural activities, products and standards are besieged in our country and beyond. Long may it live and prosper!
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