Popcorn and Petri dishes

摘要

In the autumn of 2007 Ⅰ was at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, California, when my mobile phone rang. The number was blocked; as a recently minted PhD with credit-card debt, I assumed it was a company trying to track me down. Nevertheless, I answered. To my surprise, the voice at the other end asked, "Dr Hand? I've got James Cameron on the line from New Zealand. Do you have a few minutes to help him?" I had worked with the director before and knew he was working on his next film.