He also has a gift for fine – and sometimes not so fine – tuning.
We now know that our universe burst into being some 13 billion years ago (the theory of the Big Bang, as it happens, was worked out by a Belgian priest), and that its initial conditions seem to have been "fine tuned" so that life would eventually arise.
But for the oil patch rarely has national policy been fine tuned so stealthily, bringing joy in this instance, to even the most hardened wildcatter's wildest dreams.
The classic components - good quality, pink-ish patty, cheese, bacon, crisp lettuce - are so fine-tuned you don't need to do something radical.
But his lines spin out arabesques so fine-tuned and sustained in their rhythms that they seem to be executed without the pen ever leaving the page.
But suppose the censorship is so fine-tuned that it actually strengthens the repressive apparatus by making it cleverer, rather than simply squelching all opposition?
In a string quartet in particular, the balance and teamwork are, literally, so fine-tuned that when any change occurs, the effect can be drastic.
The battle between Kris and Adam was one of the best, not just because these finalists were so gifted and such good foils, but because the "American Idol" engine is so fine-tuned.
Her ear for dialogue, for the nuances and language of hypocrisy and self-consciousness and hope, is so fine-tuned, so wincingly accurate, that it's impossible not to be swept into her world.
Yield management, the use of computers to vary prices to fill the most rooms, has become so fine-tuned, Mr. Hanson said, that on some days, rooms in cities with relatively high occupancy rates may be selling for less than those where business has been miserable.
Now, "the ingredients have become so fine-tuned, and the varietals so diverse and plentiful," he says, "pairing has become a fun, interactive way for diners to be more in control of their dining".
