He always sounded earnest, uninformed, young for his years, though they were nearing 40. His neat mechanic's mind attacked monumental problems as if they were as simple as a combustion engine. From Alexis Carrel, with whom he worked for the Rockefeller Institute, he heard about a brave new world in which scientists would be the elite guard; in Ger many he discovered a society where he was never troubled by the vulgar herd.
When World War II began to inundate the world, he began to think about west ern civilization. He evolved...