I. Seemingly ‘Random’ Encounter

One sleepy morning while riding the 1 Train, I spotted a familiar face. Michio Kaku. With a leg crossed over his knee, here sat one of the world’s most famous professors — heading Uptown to CUNY.

We made eye contact. So I made a move.

“Ahem, Professor Kaku …” I blurted, holding eye contact in hopes of holding his attention. “Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity. Einstein proved gravity. And so, riddle me this — who’s the greatest physicist of them all?”

Professor Kaku’s tight-lipped smile abruptly widened into a grin. I’d struck gold in the form of finding common ground. Apparently.