Narration:

Transcript:

Let me take you back a little bit to a different kind of cosmic dawn, a different beginning, your origin story. So you grew up in a rural part of New Jersey. Right. Yes. This house straight in front of us was the one I lived in. That was our guest room upstairs. And then I had this room up here with the three little windows looking out. Do you remember, like a certain moment in your childhood when your curiosity about the universe was first ignited? I do remember when I was about six, my dad told me at bedtime, you know, we were made out of cells and there are chromosomes inside, and they control your future in some way and you don't know how. Then by the time I was eight, I was already aware of astronomy. We'd been to see the Museum of Natural History in New York City and the planetarium show, and I thought, this is pretty exciting. Did you have a telescope? Eventually I did. In high school, I finally got my allowance together, and I bought a mirror from Edmond Scientific, and it was that big around. And I bought some lenses, and I made some eyepieces and with cardboard and tubes and things, and I made my telescope so I could see through it. Amazing. I still have it.