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

I was never very good at exams, having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial, and there never seemed to be enough time to follow up things that really interested me.

I was by far the youngest of the family, and at times it was like being an only child.

I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.

My parents were neither wealthy nor academic, but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspirations, both at school and university.

At age 11 in 1960, I moved to an academic state secondary school, Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.

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

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.

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

After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.

It has been a privilege to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to see how it might help mankind in more practical ways.

Spending time with God is the key to our strength and success in all areas of life. Be sure that you never try to work God into your schedule, but always work your schedule around Him.

For a woman's words to wound would require a man to listen first!

Always smile, make everyone happy, It can change the way a day is going, even deep in your heart you are sad .

Don't be fooled...If they gossip to you, they'll gossip about you.

I think that having love in your life does open up doors and other possibilities.

A flippant, frivolous man may ridicule others, may controvert them, scorn them; but he who has any respect for himself seems to have renounced the right of thinking meanly of others.

Nobody ever grew despondent looking for trouble.

Things sacred should not only be touched with the hands, but unviolated in thought. [Lat., Res sacros non modo manibus attingi, sed ne cogitatione quidem violari fas fuit.]

The human race is almost addicted to war. It's like we just can't stop.

Each generation must go further than the last or what's the use in it?