As PCD&M columnist Peter Bigelow points out this month, you never know when you might learn some-thing. Some of history's greatest discoveries and inventions came about purely by chance. Physicists are currently celebrating - if physicists actually celebrate - the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's annus mirabilis, or miracle year, in which he wrote three of his earliest and most important works. After graduating from Swiss Federal Polytechnic with decent, not great, grades, Einstein was unable to wangle his way into a job teaching physics. He just didn't have the right temperament, according to the professors. Some said he was too confrontational. But he was determined.
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