From the first paragraph: ... padded across the carpet of his homemade lab in a pair of white athletic socks. I'm already not taking him seriously as a scient

From the first paragraph: ... padded across the carpet of his homemade lab in a pair of white athletic socks. I'm already not taking him seriously as a scientist. Who puts carpet in a lab? Any kind of lab, much less one that you're anything at all related to biology or chemistry.