Learning and Memory ― I first got serious about school work in the 7th grade. From that point on, I got interested in being an efficient learner, which meant that I had to learn how to be better at memorizing. Along the way, I picked up a lot of tips that helped me to be a good student without having to spend so much time at it. After I became a scientist, I even did some research on memory, and I have followed the memory research literature. Recently, I published a highly acclaimed book on how to improve memory, based on what scientific research has been revealing.

Jazz ― I am not a musician, but I love jazz. One summer during college, a buddy whose family lived in Hollywood, invited me to spend the summer there, and we made the rounds of the jazz joints. This was the time when, for example, Dave Brubeck, was starting out, and you could listen to his combo for the price of one beer. I spent part of the next Summer in New York, haunting such places as the Metropole and Birdland in their heyday. I have been hooked on jazz ever since. I later came to appreciate the roots of jazz, so-called traditional jazz. I like swing, be-bop, and 50s jazz. I have to bail out, however, somewhere along the line when Coltrane and Miles Davis started to leave swing behind. "Free jazz" is an abomination to me.

Reading  ― I like to feed my mind with "good stuff," almost always non-fiction involving history, politics, self-help. religion, "clean" humor. I read the Wall Street Journal (and avoid the N.Y. Times and Washington Post). Favorite magazines include Discover, American Scientist, Science, and PC World.
 

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