If you are sitting in a basement room without a view - not to mention the bars in front of the windows - and writing a book, then you better have good company. I had the best company you could imagine. Waltraud Hiltl, Katja Markert, Martin Romacker, Klemens Schnattinger, Andreas Klee and I shared very little o?ce space, but plenty of chocolate, co?ee, champagne, and enthusiasm for our research. North German coolness and creativity sprang mostly from...