I nodded. Lynda soared to the top of my Smartest Teen list; if I were giving grades, she’d have gone up a point at that moment, her quirky grammar and my lack of interest in diamond jewelry notwithstanding.
“I’m so not into all that,” June-Anne said.
One to one. I decided not to take a further vote, unwilling to risk another cause for depression. I stole a glance at Dr. Schofield. He seemed amused, but didn’t give away his philosophical position on girls and diamonds.
After we constructed our nanotube—a hexagonal network of carbon atoms rolled up to make a seamless cylinder, capped at each end with half of a fullerene molecule—I showed slides of realworld nanotubes being prepared in a furnace operating at more than one thousand degrees centigrade. I was happy with the respectable numbers of wows and cools.
Daniel remained quiet through my presentation, until near the end, when Nathan, a young man with several earrings in places other than his ears, made a comment.
“There’s one of those domes in Atlantic City. And there’s this totally cool video game called ‘Spaceship Earth,’” Nathan said. “Maybe that’s where this guy Fuller got the idea.”
Daniel jumped up. I thought he might attack Nathan, but he attacked the whiteboard instead.
RIP OFF, he wrote in red dry-erase letters.
“They have completely ripped off Fuller’s ideas and themes. And they give him no credit, not even a plaque.” Daniel wrote CREDIT on the board, then drew a circle around it, and a line through it. The international, intergenerational symbol for no. “The term ‘Spaceship Earth’ was coined by Fuller, not by some action hero.”
I’d stepped back when Daniel came to the front of the room, unsure whether to interrupt. It was his club, after all, and not having children, I’d never been to a theme park and was unaware of this controversy. Daniel went on for a few more minutes; then I raised my hand and asked permission to give an example of a physical application of nanotubes.
Daniel smiled. “Okay, the student with the great pin can have the floor,” he said. It was the first I knew that he’d noticed the replica of a carbon atom that I wore on my lapel.
“Thanks, Mr. Endicott, and I appreciate the way you give your students a well-rounded perspective. Science is part of society, and at the same time it impacts our culture as if it were an external force. Maybe sometime we can do a whole class on that subject.”
Daniel seemed pleased with the resolution. Dr. Schofield nodded agreement, but said nothing. In fact, he’d said nothing beyond his initial greeting, and I began to wonder if he’d been sent by the administration to evaluate me.
I described briefly the excitement for physicists, the remarkable electronic and mechanical properties of carbon nanotubes. I thought Daniel and the budding environmentalists in front of me would appreciate the application to new hydrogen storage methods that were important if we were ever to have an alternative to fossil fuels. I flipped to my transparency showing a sleek, environmentally friendly, fuel-efficient vehicle, and ended with a list of URLs for those interested in pursuing dome-related topics in more depth.
Once the students left, I started packing up my materials.
“Very nicely done,” Dr. Schofield said. “I’ve always admired people who understood physics.”
“And I can’t imagine knowing the details required of a medical person.” I thought of asking him why he didn’t become a human doctor, the kind who could help Matt. But he might ask the same of me.
“I hope you’ll feel free to come to my talk next week,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said, noncommittal. I didn’t think I had the time or the interest in learning how microchips were implanted in coyotes. Besides, what if he brought a real coyote to class? I didn’t trust anything faster than I was that couldn’t talk.
Daniel offered to help carry the tote bags to my car, but I declined, citing a need to use the rest room and make a couple of calls. The truth was that I’d had enough interaction for the day. I loved being in the classroom, but found it draining in a way that hours of research were not. I wasn’t used to being around so many high-energy people at once, from Daniel to the fifteen or so well-fed, lively teenagers.
I looked forward to the solo ride home and then to the espresso maker only a few feet from my couch.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It was nearly five and dark as I headed to my car. The street was full of vehicles, but empty of people. I had my remote ready and pressed it to open the door of my Caddie. The interior light did not come on, meaning the door locks hadn’t snapped up, either. I pressed a few more times, as if I didn’t know a thing about dead batteries and how they didn’t resuscitate spontaneously. Clearly I’d need my backup system. I dug out my keys, flipped around the ring until I fingered the long, thin key that opened the driver’s door the old-fashioned way.