I was born on September 27, 1918, the second of five children.

In 1947 I married Rowena Palmer, and we have two daughters, Alison and Claire, and a son, John.

In 1959 the University recognized our work by appointing me to a new Chair of Radio Astronomy.

The benefits of medical research are real - but so are the potential horrors of genetic engineering and embryo manipulation. We devise heart transplants, but do little for the 15 million who die annually of malnutrition and related diseases. Our cleverness has grown prodigiously - but not our wisdom.

During the war years I worked on the development of radar and other radio systems for the R.A.F. and, though gaining much in engineering experience and in understanding people, rapidly forgot most of the physics I had learned.

I was educated at Bradfield College and Oxford, where I graduated in 1939.

We enjoy sailing small boats, two of which I have designed and built myself.