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Published online 3 April 2008 | Nature 452, 673- (2008) | doi:10.1038/452673a

News: Q&A

Bill Foster

At the age of 19, Bill Foster started a theatrical lighting company that now provides equipment for rock concerts and Super Bowl shows. A PhD at Harvard led him to Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, where he built electronics for a quark detector. In an election win last month, he entered Congress as a Democratic representative for Illinois. Eric Hand caught up with him.

Eric Hand

During the election campaign, Republicans ridiculed your science background. Is being a physicist a political asset or liability?

It certainly has been an asset so far.

Comments

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  • I congratulate Bill Foster on his election to the US House of Representatives. I suspect that the skills required to succeed in politics will far exceed those required to find a quark. By the way, did Dr. Foster actually find any particles with one-third of the charge on an electron or a proton?

    • 10 Apr, 2008
    • Posted by: Oliver Manuel