Science Quote by Eric Allin Cornell

It reads like an anti-origin story, and that’s exactly why it lands. Eric Allin Cornell, a physicist whose career is defined by patience, precision, and long arcs of inquiry, frames his early brush with computers as a flare-up rather than a calling. The sentence deflates the Silicon Valley myth that genius announces itself early and permanently. Instead, it treats fascination as a mood: intense, brief, and ultimately disposable.

The phrasing does quiet work. “Infatuation” is a romantic word, slightly embarrassing on purpose. It casts computing not as destiny but as a crush - intoxicating, a little irrational, and prone to fading once the novelty wears off. “Burnt out” doubles the effect: it suggests both exhaustion and a self-consuming fire, implying he didn’t merely lose interest; the interest overperformed and collapsed under its own heat. “As quickly as it had begun” gives the line its symmetry, a neat, almost clinical closure that feels very scientist-like: observation, measurement, result.

Contextually, this is also generational. Cornell came of age when computers were shifting from specialized tools to cultural objects of desire. Many people mistook proximity to the new machine for a vocation. His line separates tool from identity. Subtext: the work that mattered to him required deeper stamina than the dopamine rush of new technology. It’s a small statement of values - skepticism toward hype, preference for durable curiosity - and a reminder that even Nobel-level trajectories can include dead ends, passing passions, and the wisdom to move on.