how I got into this 'penicillin thing'

People are frequently curious how I got involved in this penicillin book.

 They ask "do you have a medical or science degree or something?"

I don't - particularly the 'something' .

All I can say is that all my life I have been badly bitten by the curiosity bug.

I have always been intensely curious - about anything and everything.

Like a dog with a bone.

Here , for example, is a picture taken on Vancouver's English Bay Beach in the Fall of 1960.

My parents treasure it :

I have just turned nine and while all other kids are running around playing in the sand, there I am sitting and reading a newspaper that some adult had thoughtfully/thoughtlessly left behind.

I don't know whether this curiosity is a gift from God or a curse from God, but there it is....

Michael Marshall, penicillin researcher, age nine, relaxing on  beach...