Einstein is one of mine, both because of his ability to create new physical theory of exceptional clarity and significance, and for his willingness to venture into the realms of humane action. It was he who said, "the most incomprehensible thing about nature is that it is comprehensible." I have referred here to more of his thought provoking quotes about the experience of being human.

	Shakespeare speaks to me through his sonnets, incomparably concise expressions of emotion. I have chosen Sonnet CXVI, one of my favorites, and, it happens, one of those of Lyman Spitzer, my mentor in astronomy, and a dear friend. It happens also that enjoyment of the Sonnets is something I share with my daughter Natasha.

Mozart Who would deny his genius? When I try to analyze why his music never pales for me, I can only say that each bar is perfect, that is, there was no better way to have done it, and therefore, no cause ever, to wish for something else. The operas in particular seem to be joyous. I especially enjoy Cosi Fan Tutti.

Woolf is not everyone's cup of tea. To be sure,her writing is not all of the same quality, but for me, the best novels, such as "Mrs. Dalloway", are a source of deep satisfaction. Her bursts of lyricism evoke wows from me.

van Gogh for me is a painter who does not copy beauty from nature, but rather, has an inner, fiery concept of beautiful things which he transforms, in the act of painting to a new and often startling version of the mundane. Or is there a better way to describe this rendering of an almond tree in blossom? And look at the remarkable similarity in these two images, one of dust aligned by magnetic fields in interstellar spaces, and the other a drawing by van Gogh:

	TOP: The interstellar polarization of starlight plotted in galactic coordinates by Mathewson and Ford (1970). The length and position angle of each line indicate the degree of polarization, P, and the plane of vibration of the electric vector, respectively. BOTTOM: portion of vanGogh's The Harvest drawn in 1888. This image was gotten from the website of the National Gallery of Art

Mandela Despite its failures in our years, I believe in nonviolence, and have tried to practice it. Three individuals gave hope that it may finally overcome violence as a way of life: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. I have chosen the Nobel Prize Lecture of Mandela as representing this philosophy in our time.