I first met Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar in December 1972, but did not get to know him well until early 1976, more than a year after I arrived at the University of Chicago as a postdoc in the relativity group. For nearly 20 years after that, until his death in 1995, we interacted on an almost daily basis. My memories of those conversations and interactions have faded considerably over the past 15 years—I simply do not have Chandra’s remarkable ability to recall all details of events that occurred long ago. However, the overall impression that Chandra left on me and many other scientists is something that will never fade away.
To many who met him but did not get to know him well, Chandra must have seemed an exceptionally austere and formidable figure—an impression with a great deal of validity. Of all the scientists I have met, Chandra had the highest standards...
