“See? Look what we can do here,” he said, moving the window around the desktop that contained the tube that held the molecule that continued to bounce, and affecting nonchalance, as his voice was drowned out by thunderous applause. People stood up to clap behind me. I clapped with relief. It had worked. Soon, we were all on our feet. He was smiling, as if he both hoped and didn’t hope the applause would stop—and stood there on the stage before us, everyone’s man.
