Folksinger's father famous as physicist Free

The passing of Albert Baez (see his obituary on page 75) recalls a beautiful encounter. At a dinner party in 1982, I asked him how it was being the father of a famous person. He replied that he had gotten used to being eyed at conferences and inevitably being asked, “Are you any relation to [folk musician] Joan Baez?” On one occasion, as he saw a young physicist approach, he was sure he knew what was coming. But this time it was different. “I was astounded,” Baez said, “and thrilled, when he asked, ‘Are you Albert Baez, the inventor of the x-ray telescope?’”