Remembering Steven Weinberg

In 2017 I had the honor of meeting Steven Weinberg—whose obituary appears in the October 2021 issue of Physics Today (page 72)—at the University of Texas at Austin. In the past I had used some of his writings from Scientific American and his books for my students at Wagner College, where I taught the honors lecture in astronomy. I had often corresponded with Steven from 1994 to 2018 about his concepts in astrophysics, and he answered many of the questions that my students submitted to me.

In my correspondence with Steven, I had mentioned that I was an active member of my community board on Staten Island, New York, where I reside. Because Steven knew that I worked with local politicians, he asked for my political support to help him get funding for the Superconducting Super Collider project. Although Congress terminated the project in 1993, Steven wrote me a wonderful email thanking me and invited me down to Austin for lunch. Several years later, I visited Steven at his office at the university. He showed me some interesting photos of his past achievements, and then we got into his car, and he drove me to a restaurant. I enjoyed having lunch with him and discussing the concepts of a multiverse, dark matter, and SETI.

Steven was a gentleman and a scholar. I will never forget my interactions with such a wonderful human being.