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.

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 rather dismal.

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

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 project that I have undertaken.

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

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