Inspiration

The Oakland Tribune has an article about Marc Davis, a professor at Berkeley.

When I was doing research there, I was lucky to have Marc in the office next door: a brilliant astrophysicist who has done as much as anyone of his generation to understand the large-scale structure of the Universe, he is more recently one of the principal designers of the DEEP survey, mapping the distribution of galaxies as they were when the Universe was less than half its present age. Moreover, Marc certainly didn’t live up (or down) to the stereotype of the pasty, unathletic office-bound scientist — he was ebullient, athletic, charming, driven — but still a nice, lovely guy.

In 2003, only fifty years old,Marc suffered a stroke, leaving him paralyzed on his right side. Since then, he has fought back, managing to ski in Lake Tahoe, bicycle up and down the Berkeley hills (and continue pushing his science forward). It’s hard to avoid getting soppy or sentimental when faced with what Marc has gone through, what he’s accomplished, and how far he may still have to go.