Our first move failed, so that afternoon Sean and I went to stake out another heavyweight—Silas Kensington. He was a true legend in his field, long past retirement age, now living quietly in the suburbs.

His personality was notoriously strange. He hated talking to people. He always said businesspeople reeked of money, and that students these days were impatient, with not a single one able to sit down and do real research.

Other than keeping in touch with a few old ...