• Question: Who is your inspiration?

    Asked by caroline12 to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 25 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      My baby’s my inspiration now – she is so bright and energetic, I adore her! she inspires me everyday to be a better mum and scientist 🙂

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hello caroline12 –

      My wife – she keeps me going! Really.

      Scientifically, one of my big inspirations is Max Perutz who worked doggedly for 20 years to reveal the structure of the haemoglobin molecule – the oxygen-carrying protein that makes red blood cells red.

      His work opened up a whole new field of protein crystallography (in which I now work) and showed what intricate and amazing machines proteins are. I still gan’t get over how amazing are the molecules of life

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Inspiration comes in many forms – I have been inspired by all you lot out there asking questions! I have been inspired in my science by a lot of key figures close to me – my old PhD supervisor who showed me that you could be a really top scientist and still have a life – work hard when you need to, but remember there is more to life. And by the greats – Humphrey Davy is my man…..

    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 25 Jun 2010:

      Hi Caroline,

      I have quite a few inspirations, and I got the chance to mention quite a few of them on this site:

      Martin Hugall – first science teacher secondary school
      David Groome – inspirational psychology lecturer
      John Padday – gentle man, friend of grandparents, expert in thin films and very nearly astronaut
      Richard Feynman – genius, physicist, incredibly gifted teacher and communicator
      Jocelyn Bell Burnham – discoverer of pulsars, generous and open minded

      I was also inspired by Dr Who, David Attenborough, James Burke and numerous other TV science communicators.

      In my own career lots of people have inspired and helped me, and I am very grateful to them, but I won’t name them as they know who they are and it will make the others jealous!

      Thanks for giving me the chance to answer this.

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