So, of course, when Pines nominated him to spearhead the effort, he said, “Yes.” Cowan had already given it some thought, since Pines had talked to him about the nomination beforehand. And what had finally persuaded him was the same thing that had always lured him into management positions at Los Alamos: “Management was stuff that other people could do—but I always felt that maybe they were doing it wrong.” Besides, nobody else was exactly frothing at the mouth to step forward.
