From an early age I was told that I was expected to do more than continue to run a small business. Education was important and seen as a way of moving forward.

Looking through the list of earlier Nobel laureates, I note a large number with whom I became acquainted and with whom I interacted during those years as they passed through Cambridge.

I had changed from being a mathematician to a practicing scientist. I was increasingly embarassed that I could no longer follow some of the more modern branches of pure mathematics.

From an early age I was told that I was expected to do more than continue to run a small business. Education was important and seen as a way of moving forward.

I have had many opportunities to visit universities all over the world in the past 50 years.

In the war, most young men were inducted into the armed forces at the age of 17. A group of students was permitted to attend university before taking part in wartime research projects.

I am delighted to have had students, friends and colleagues in so many nations and to have learned so much of what I know from them. This Nobel Award honours them all.