During the winter my attention was attracted to the changes in the stars and planets in the sky..

At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys..

It was during my time at secondary school that I abandoned religion..

Scientific understanding is often beautiful, a profoundly aesthetic experience which gives pleasure not unlike the reading of a great poem..

My parents were born in Norfolk and spent their early years working in the big houses of that rural English county, my mother as a cook and my father….

I was never very good at exams, having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial, and there never seemed to be enough time ….

Like many students, I found the drudgery of real experiments and the slowness of progress a complete shock, and at my low points I contemplated other….

Therefore, I reasoned that study of the cell cycle responsible for the reproduction of cells was important and might even be illuminating about the n….

This time at Birmingham turned me into a general biologist, and ever since then I have always tried to take a biological approach to any research pro….

After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in ….

I am still a keen mountain walker and an enthusiastic glider pilot..

I have an idealistic view of science as a liberalising and progressive force for humanity..

I was by far the youngest of the family, and at times it was like being an only child..

My parents were neither wealthy nor academic, but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspiratio….

It has been a privilege to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to see how it might help mankind in more practical ways..

Better understanding of the natural world not only enhances all of us as human beings, but can also be harnessed for the better good, leading to impr….

My main efforts focussed on trying to identify the rate controlling steps during the cell cycle. Crucial for this analysis were wee mutants that were….

This possibility bothered me as I thought it was not advisable to remain in one academic environment, and the long dark winters in Edinburgh could be….

Ever since Sir Isaac Newton's times, scientists have worked in the same sort of way: They show a great respect for experiment and observation, They d….

I had a great time investigating the pigments of different mutant fruit flies by following experimental protocols published in Scientific American, a….

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science..