Well, we are assuming that "A" refers to Alton Williams, and there is a Alton Williams who obtained a doctorate in a topic related to nuclear physics
Hi VM44,
I will only assume that Alton Williams is reporting something he either read or heard by another scientist and is not referring to himself as the originator of the comment. The reason being, this is a very common practice in WT writting. They often use this very line when writting about or so-called quoting what someone said. I don't think in this case that Alton Williams and the Nucular scientist are one in the same even if Alton Williams is the same Alton Williams with a doctorate in Nucular physics.