Approved by

allowing me to take liberal amounts of time off as I finished writing and defending this thesis. I have had the benefit of many kind and generous mentors and teachers I would like to thank. I’ll start with my parents, Jim Bach, Nancy Bass, Barbara Rostad, and Mark Bass, who have supported me, shown me the wonder of the world and encouraged me to explore it. In my early education I am grateful to Mrs Stumpf who believed in me and helped me overcome early academic difficulties, and Mrs de’Lavalle who set me firmly on the path of academic success. Later, Kurt Nostrant introduced me to hands-on science in the “Science Olympiad ” competitions. In high-school Sally Ball taught me the wonders of biology and Gary Dunfee the joys of the hard sciences of chemistry and science, and Stephanie Knight for literature, and Cynthia Kaldis for Latin and the classics. At Ohio University, I would like to thank Mehmet Celenk for discrete math, Davi