What inspired you to take a career in the science field?

Albert Einstein and his visionary ability to answer unsolved mysteries of the universe with math & his mind

When I was 9 years old and I was visiting my cousin for a few weeks. He was 17 years old at the time. He had set up a laboratory in his basement where he was doing experiments in electricity and building an electric motor. When I asked him questions about his project he gave me a book to read about electric batteriesm which I read and used for the basis for a 5th grade science project. So that stuff was percolating in my mind, and years later for my 8th grade independent science class project I tried to build an electric motor (unsuccessfully). In 9th grade I took an electronics class where we each built an electric motor. I was always good at math, and gravitated towards science. But it was my 10th grade physics teacher who really inspired me to take the decision to become a scientist. He made me fall in love with physics, gave me Feynman's book "The Character of Physical Law", and encouraged me to read Scientific American articles. From then I was hooked on science!