“Geneticist, mathematician, surfer, ‘glamour’ photographer and winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, Kary Mullis comes from a rare and cherished school of intellectual activity – that of the deep and genuine eccentric. Indeed, in these times of academic blandness, when the power of the grants committee and the influence of the scientific referee so constrain researchers, this Californian has set an extraordinary standard for individualism, and for a creative nonconformity that verges on the lunatic.” – The Observer, (London)