This book is a personal account of a research professor of entomology based at University of California–Riverside who used a background in physics and electronics to first solve research problems in insect physiology and toxicology. He then applied the same background to addressing insect pest problems in cotton in California and Arizona. The narrative also describes personal interactions—most good, a few nasty. Choosing very difficult problems to solve and using the newest tools available had the effect of attracting some of the top graduate students and postdoctorals in the world. Sometimes a visiting researcher would bring a new problem with them. Achieving breakthroughs in a number of difference disciplines sometimes created jealousies in workers who did not see the competition coming and resented it. The text also gives some idea what research in a university is like, especially in an applied field like entomology. Although based primarily in Riverside, California, both the narrative and subject are global and reflect the author's perspective.