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to perform experiments to test theories with observation, it helps to pay attention to what works. Math works. Physics theories work.”
    “Like?”
    “Like anything. Computers, televisions, cell phones. This plane we’re flying in.”
    “Okay, practical inventions are one thing. But take Einstein, for instance. I know he was brilliant, but what was so special about him compared to other scientists?”
    “Einstein? He pretty much single-handedly brought us out of the darkness and into the light. He imagined reality in a completely different way, and with beautiful simplicity. He showed how matter—like your skin—and energy—like the light coming through the window—are really the same thing. With that, we were able to harness nuclear power—”
    “Oh, that’s a compelling argument for the math,” Kelly says. “Albert sits in his office and thinks up E=mc 2 and now we can blow up the world.”
    “Okay, but the same general idea explains how the sun works. We all like the sun, right?”
    “But do we really need to know how it works? A lot of people are comfortable with ‘Let there be light.’ ”
    “Well, okay,” Mike says. “I mean, you can’t argue with another person’s beliefs.”
    “But you can choose not to respect them. Isn’t that right?”
    It really is remarkable, this conversation he’s having with her. Most of the time, when people unfamiliar with physics ask questions about his work, or about scientific principles in general, they smile and nod at his answers. They say things like “Wow” or “Cool,” and certainly don’t try to challenge him. But he’d rather not veer into spirituality. Comparing religion and science is an obstacle course he’s never cared to navigate.
    “If you believe something,” he says finally, “how can I not respect it?”
    Kelly chuckles. “Nice answer, Senator.”
    “So why don’t we talk about
your
job, then? Like, I’ve always wondered how folks like you deal with reaction from the public. I imagine a lot of people have strong opinions about the newscasts, since they watch them every day.”
    “Oh, you can’t believe all the calls we get at the station. The stories they don’t like, the clothes we wear, my makeup, errant weather forecasts, you name it. E-mails and letters, too. Most people are nice, but a lot aren’t.”
    “Do you mind that part of it?”
    “I used to let it bother me, but you have to be tough. Especially in a large market like Dallas.”
    “Where do you go from there? What’s the career path?”
    “I’d like to get a network position at some point. Report for a major news magazine. Take Katie Couric’s place.”
    Mike chuckles as the moment floats between them. He notices she’s not wearing a wedding ring. He could ask for her phone number now, permission to call her sometime, but those words have no clear idea how to find their way out of his mouth.
    “Anyway,” Kelly says, “I’m not going to let you change the subject.”
    “The subject?”
    “About how your views are logical and provable while others are subjective and have no facts to support them.”
    He hopes she’s joking. “But isn’t that the very definition of faith? To accept without proof?”
    “Sure,” Kelly says. “But in your line of work, there’s nothing holier than verifiable proof, right?”
    “Right.”
    “Does that mean we’re at an impasse?”
    “No,” Mike says, without really thinking about his answer.
    “No?” she prods.
    “Well, the standard answer, the one spiritual scientists like to use, is that no matter how well we explain the mechanics of the universe, someone had to put it there. Even with new ideas that suggest the Big Bang might not have been ‘the beginning,’ or the idea of the universe arising out of random quantum fluctuations, we still long to describe a mechanism in which existence moved from a state of nothing to a state of something. For a lot of people, that’s where God enters the