Beyond the Ultra-Violet

Experimenting with the eyes can be a very dangerous thing. You can go blind—or maybe you'll see something no man alive was meant to look upon!
You better take your money back, mister. Thanks a lot but—no thanks. I wasn't panhandling, my hat fell off and I was trying to find it on the sidewalk. Thanks again for finding it for me but I think I could have managed. And, no offense, but I can find my way all right without being led.
You're surprised that I'm rather young, huh? Well, youth isn't a crime and anyways, twenty-four can be either young or old, depending on who you're talking to. But I know what you mean. I'm rather young for being blind, isn't that it? Most blind people you see on the streets are the old ones, the shabby ones with the pleading faces and the hat with the lead pencils in it or maybe a tin cup and a violin. Sorry to disappoint you but I guess I'm not the type.
Sure, I know—you were only trying to help. You probably think I'm bitter because I can't see your world and all the wonderful things in it. Well, it's a long story but that's not the punch line. I might be bitter but not for the reasons you might think. Up until two weeks ago I could see as well as you. And you couldn't call what happened losing my sight. Not exactly.
So you're curious. You want to hear the rest of it. And you're sure it's not just out of sympathy. Well, all right. There's a bar in the next block where we can get a booth and a couple of beers.
Now look, I don't need to be led! You don't need eyes to find your way to a bar on a hot summer day like this. It's toward the end of the block, just a few steps further.... Right here. There's a booth in the back where nobody will bother us for a while.
Okay, make mine the same and here's half a dollar to pay for them. Don't worry, I've got money enough to keep me in beer and pretzels for a long time. Nobody could accuse the professor of being stingy with the university funds when he paid me off.
It began about six months ago. I was in my third year at college, studying physics under Professor Martin. Maybe you've seen Martin around the campus—a rather thin guy with a face like the Rock of Gibraltar. One of the few profs who can still sound enthusiastic about their subject after twenty years of teaching it.