I would be absolutely astounded if population growth and industrialisation and all the stuff we are pumping into the atmosphere hadn't changed the climatic balance. Of course it has. There is no valid argument for denial.

An understanding of the natural world and what's in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment...

You know, it is a terrible thing to appear on television, because people think that you actually know what you're talking about.

Climate change will affect the whole of humanity, while terrorist attacks will only affect a small section of humanity. Of course, you wouldn't say that if you were related to someone who had been beheaded or blown up or murdered.

I'm against this huge globalisation on the basis of economic advantage.

The most extraordinary thing about trying to piece together the missing links in the evolutionary story is that when you do find a missing link and put it in the story, you suddenly need all these other missing links to connect to the new discovery. The gaps and questions actually increase - it's extraordinary.

The climate, the economic situation, rising birth rates; none of these things give me a lot of hope or reason to be optimistic.