A personal recount in areas of particle physics and related fields as a research physicist for over 50 years, Adrian Melissinos' insights into the ways that general research was carried out, as well as the evolution of particle physics from 1958 to 2008 will prove valuable to science history enthusiasts, as well as particle physicists. Be it conventional accelerator experiments, the use of microwave techniques in search of cosmic axions, or taking advantage of high power lasers to observe light-by-light scattering, the excitement of searching for something new in the face of failures and then...