ABSTRACT
So, after six moves in two years I was back in Cambridge again. I was delighted. The Unit was full of energy and ideas, many captured in Broadbent’s seminal new book, which I read avidly. I had been appointed to work on a project concerned with postal codes. Conrad, my supervisor, assured me that he would look after all the applied aspects of the project, and that I should focus on more theoretical issues, leaving it up to me to decide what these should be. Importantly, my post encouraged combining the project with registration for a Cambridge PhD. The APU was not part of the university but was allowed to host PhD students under the nominal supervision of the director, Donald Broadbent, although in my case this was delegated to Conrad. Before being accepted, I had to convince Oliver Zangwill, the professor of psychology, that I was a suitable candidate, and this involved a year’s delay followed by an interview. Zangwill was a rather impressive figure with aquiline features, described by my previous Icelandic girlfriend as very “handsome, like an Indian chief”. He was, however, a rather shy person, who rarely made lengthy eye contact. He was also the owner of a borzoi, a large and splendid Russian hunting dog who also attended the interview, and while Oliver looked at the ground between us, his dog came over, placed his head on my knees and gazed soulfully up at me throughout. The dog seemed to approve, and I was duly registered as a PhD student.
