Five
The Circuit of
Awareness
Charlie and I talked all afternoon, beginning fifteen years of fruitful
work together. For me, the best part was his friendship and his open
mind. He, too, knew there was still a lot to learn. Our relationship also
had a side effect of incalculable value: He sent some of his most talented
graduate students over to my lab to do their thesis work and later to
become my colleagues in research. Andy Marino, Joe Spadaro, and Maria
Reichmanis each became an indispensable part of the research group.
Like Charlie, they constantly contributed new ideas, and they helped
create the atmosphere of intellectual adventurousness that makes a lab
creative.
Closing the Circle
Charlie's first contribution was to check the equipment and confirm the
measurements I'd made on the salamanders. After he'd satisfied himself
that everything was real, we discussed what to do next.
"Well," Charlie said, "to find out more about this current, we'll have
to go into the animal—expose a nerve and measure the current there."
"That's easier said than done," I objected. "Just to cut down into the
leg
of an animal
will
damage tissues and produce currents of injury.
That'll give spurious voltages. Besides, there'd be no stable place to put
the reference electrode."