I greatly enjoy reading the biographies of scientists, and when doing so I always hope to learn the secrets of their success. Alas, those secrets generally remain elusive.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
No matter what I've published - and you can look it up, I've published quite a lot in science, quite a few books too - none of it's very important. All will be forgotten and in a few years time will be a few comments in eight-point type in footnotes at the bottom of the page somewhere.
I spent my adult life as a scientist, and science is, essentially, the most successful approach we have to try and understand the vast mysteries around.
I love biographies. I'm especially into stuff about Hollywood in the '40s and '50s. I find it fascinating and terrifying.
I was a very keen reader of science fiction, and during the time I was going to libraries, it was good, written by people who knew their science.
I enjoyed reading all the classic authors like Isaac Asimov and Bradbury.
Scientists tend to be unappreciated in the world at large, but you can hardly overstate the importance of the work they do.
Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.
Modern scientific knowledge appeared piecemeal. Historians wrote about human history; physicists tackled the material world; and biologists studied the world of living organisms. But there were few links between these disciplines, as researchers focused on getting the details right.
I read science, because to me, that's extremely exciting. It's like a great detective story, and it's happening right in front of us.
I've always had an abundance of material about the subjects of my biographies.