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A lot of people view science as dull or boring, and I think the stance we take, using humour, not taking ourselves too seriously... I think people enjoy that. I think it's quite refreshing.

You try to find things that are challenging and interesting and hopefully it will be the same to the audience.

Any subject can be made interesting, and therefore any subject can be made boring.

Not being boring is quite a challenge.

Mostly, research is much more fun than the actual writing.

Whenever I think of how much pleasure I have interviewing scientists, I remember that they're having the real fun in actually being able to do the science.

Apart from hard work and being in the right projects, you need to re-invent yourself. I'd be bored doing the same thing over and over, and the audience wouldn't like it, too. The trick is to break that monotony.

I've read plenty of amazing science pieces where the writers don't hang out in labs. I just have fun doing it. And I get rewarded for it; I get gushy, especially when kids tell me they expected to be bored by my books, but weren't.

Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose, and of action over a long period of time.

It's interesting to watch myself with an audience; I'm trying hard to learn from it.