An Artistic Scientist Finds His Niche

When Atanu Biswas was growing up in Calcutta, his parents made his future options clear. “In the United States, you hear ‘be what you want to be,’” he says. But in India, opportunities are scarcer. You get a different message, he explains. “Be what you want to be,” just as long as “you become a doctor, or engineer, or scientist.” Biswas dreamt of majoring in art or music, but he abided by his parents’ wishes, eventually coming to the United S…