"My mother, Dorothy Watson, had met my father in a Greek class at Northwestern University"
About this Quote
The subtext is quietly rich. A Greek class isn’t just a meet-cute; it’s a marker of a certain American academic milieu in the early 20th century, when classical languages still functioned as a gatekeeper of educational prestige. Cronin is telling you his parents inhabited that world - educated, institutionally anchored, shaped by a university culture that prized the old canon even as modern science was remaking the future. There’s an understated irony in a Nobel-winning physicist tracing his beginnings to Homer and declensions: the humanistic infrastructure beneath a scientific career.
The intent feels documentary rather than confessional. By giving his mother a full name but referring to “my father” without one, he subtly centers her as the narrator’s first fixed point, while keeping the family hierarchy conventional and opaque. It’s biography in the key of objectivity: an origin reduced to coordinates. That’s how scientists often build meaning - not with sentiment, but with provenance.
Quote Details
| Topic | Mother |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Cronin, James. (2026, January 16). My mother, Dorothy Watson, had met my father in a Greek class at Northwestern University. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-dorothy-watson-had-met-my-father-in-a-105966/
Chicago Style
Cronin, James. "My mother, Dorothy Watson, had met my father in a Greek class at Northwestern University." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-dorothy-watson-had-met-my-father-in-a-105966/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"My mother, Dorothy Watson, had met my father in a Greek class at Northwestern University." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/my-mother-dorothy-watson-had-met-my-father-in-a-105966/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
