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== Back story ==

== Back story ==

Robert Stadler seems to have received a typical [[college]] education in [[physics]]. Whether he did so under an accelerated schedule, the novel does not make clear—but considering Stadler's other career accomplishments, this would be quite likely.

Robert Stadler seems to have received a typical [[college]] education in [[physics]]. He probably did so under an accelerated program: early admission to college, and "acceleration credits" granted to him by virtue of his scores on entrance and advanced-placement examinations. (The Advanced Placement Examination program of the College Entrance Examination Board would be applicable today.) But along the way, he never developed any social skills. He would later say that he had "no talent or taste for dealing with people." To put the matter bluntly, he was a "nerd," and developed a desire to isolate himself from his fellow human beings. He would take this desire to an unhealthy, and philosophically unsound, extreme.

At the age of 27, Stadler published a paper on the nature of cosmic rays that turned every other theory about them on its head. This won for him, three days later, recognition as the foremost theoretical physicist of that era. In 1931, at the age of thirty-two, he became Professor and Chairman of Physics at the Patrick Henry University (not to be confused with the real-life [[Patrick Henry College]]), which was located in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]. He would hold that position for eight years.

At the age of 27, Stadler published a paper on the nature of cosmic rays that turned every other theory about them on its head. This won for him, three years later, recognition as the foremost theoretical physicist of that era. In 1931, at the age of thirty-two, he became Professor and Chairman of Physics at the Patrick Henry University (not to be confused with the real-life [[Patrick Henry College]]), which was located in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]]. He would hold that position for eight years.

In his last four years at that institution, he had three extraordinary students who he was never to forget. First, the three came to him when they were sixteen years old. Second, they majored in physics and in [[philosophy]], a demanding double major and a highly unusual choice.

In his last four years at that institution, he had three extraordinary students who he was never to forget. First, the three came to him when they were sixteen years old. Second, they majored in physics and in [[philosophy]], a demanding double major and a highly unusual choice.