This book is both an autobiography of W.K.H. Panofsky, the respected physicist and director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center as well as a discussion and analysis of issues critical to the relationship between independent academic inquiry and imposed government orthodoxy. It chronologically discusses the major phases of Dr. Panofsky's life, from his early research at the beginning of World War II to his recent efforts towards arms control and the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons. The book describes each phase of Dr. Panofsky's career in sufficient detail to inform the reader of the nature of the issues surrounding his work, and to lay the basis for explaining the course of action chosen. It invites "out of context" reading by those interested in the particular issues covered, separate from their biographical relevance.

Wolfgang K.H. "Pief" Panofsky, a German-American physicist received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1938 and obtained his PhD from Caltech in 1942. In the years 1945-1951, Panofsky held an assistant professorship at Berkeley, before permanently establishing himself as a Professor of Physics at Stanford. Between 1961 and 1984, he was the director of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.