302

JOHN GASCHNIC, used to come into my office quite regularly for conversations that helped calibrate my mental compass. John had definite opinions about many subjects-about how N research ought, to be pursued, about high standards of achievement, about the need for first-rate equipment, about important research topics, about personnel mattersin short, about all the sorts of things that concern me. John was persuasive and not easily deflected. Well, actually, he couldn't be deflected at all! Usually, I agreed with John and welcomed the added strength that he gave me. Sometimes, though, I might try to explain that something he was advocating wasn't "realistic."