A split second in time, but what a split second. You can live a lifetime in a split second. Rapture comes only in a split second as do escaping moonbeams.

— Teodoro C. Benigno

A lifetime lived in a split second but what a life it has been. In his engaging autobiography spanning over nine decades, National Scientist for Veterinary Medicine Teodulo M. Topacio Jr. shares his life’s journey from his family’s roots in history during the Philippine revolution against Spain to his halcyon years as a child growing up in American-era Pasay, to starting college during the tumultuous years of the Japanese occupation, to his days as a scholar abroad, up to his rise as a world-renowned and multiawarded teacher, researcher, and scientist. Written to inspire the youth of the Philippines to pursue the noble profession of veterinary medicine in the service of the nation, it is a tale of passion and hard work, grit and determination, and, above all, love and sacrifice.