Geologists Priscilla and Edward Grew have been happily married for the past 14 years. Yet the success of their relationship can hardly be attributed to “togetherness.” Far from it. Priscilla, director of the Minnesota Geological Survey and a full professor of geology at the University of Minnesota, lives in Minneapolis. Edward, meanwhile, is a research associate professor at the University of Maine in Orono. And that’s where he lives—about 1,000 miles as the crow flies, from his wife in Minneapolis.

In their 14 years of marriage, the Grews have lived together a total of about a year. Op average, they get together every other month or so. They exchange letters four or five times a week, and they also stay in touch by telephone.

Another successfully married scientist couple are biologists Elizabeth Grayhack and Eric Phizicky, both 37-year-old assistant professors at the University of Rochester. In a typical week, Grayhack...

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