Foreword

There’s a high chance that you’re wondering who I am.

I am the daughter of my parents. My sister’s sister. My children’s mother. My husband’s wife.

There are times when I feel tired. Not infrequently, I lack patience. On many occasions, I tend to be idealistic. I am a collection of moods, affections, and behaviors.

If necessary, I’m capable of defending myself.

I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong because I’m willing to learn from it.

As far as I’m concerned, I’m just a normal person.

I grew up in a relatively large family.

As a child, I lived in a villa in the center of Bucharest, Romania with my grandparents (a Greek and an Austrian), my mother (who was of Romanian and Hungarian descent), and my father.

My mother taught me that there’s no such thing as “I can’t!” only “I don’t want to!” My mother instilled in me the belief that anything can be achieved with hard work and determination. This has been a driving force for me to stay motivated and persevere through difficult tasks. As a result, I try to make sure that I finish anything I start.

My grandfather once told me that it’s easier to harm than to do good in life, and I strive to always do good.

It was my father, an electronics engineer, who ingrained in me the practical spirit, the love of exact sciences, the curiosity, and the desire to learn as much as possible. He always encouraged me to explore the world around me and ask questions, and he taught me to be analytical and think logically. He also taught me to value the power of knowledge and strive for excellence in everything I do.

My grandmother ran her own private kindergarten. The qualities of kindness and resilience she taught me are invaluable.

These lessons have stayed with me throughout my life, shaping my outlook and character.

Our cellar was my father’s workshop. He worked there in his spare time. I was allowed to tinker with him in the workshop as he told me about his inventions. My father made our first home computer. In early 1987, he installed a satellite dish on the roof of our house so that we could watch programs from around the world. At that time, during Ceausescu communist regime in Romania, it was a pioneering action to do this for private use.

As an amateur radio operator, he often took me with him to the Amateur Radio Club of Bucharest. He also took me to events held by the institution where he worked and to his private clients’ homes. They were doctors, neurologists, and neurosurgeons.

A scientist in his laboratory is not just a technician;
he is also a child faced with natural phenomena,
which impresses him like a fairy tale

MARIE CURIE

Reading books, listening to my father’s stories, and hearing stories from the older (at least from my perspective) people we visited as well as those who visited us, I began to understand that a great number of people have tried to understand and discover the mysteries of nature through experiments, observations, and science.

I‘ve always been fascinated by those globes filled with liquid and figurines. Throughout my life, I’ve wondered whether we’re all connected within such a globe arranged in a particular pattern. When I see the figurine immersed in the liquid, I can’t help but think that one person’s actions can affect the lives of many others. Is it possible that the figurines in the globe symbolize people throughout the world, the globe the id