What is it like being a scientist?
Strange question. At a personal level, we are just the same as everyone else of course! - I don't think you would be able to “spot the scientist” down at your local supermarket. It's not like we walk round in white coats or anything like that – and away from work – we watch the same TV and read the same newspapers as everyone else.
What inspired you to become a scientist?
I don't think there was a “Eureka” moment. I enjoyed doing Science at school and I have always been interested in how things work. However, I studied Mathematics for my first degree and PhD. There hasn't been a “grand plan”. I've just tended to follow things which seem interesting and I have tried to work them out!
What is the best thing about being a scientist/ your job?
The best thing is that it isn't really a “job”! It's useful that it pays the bills, but basically, I get up in the morning to do my work because it interests me, not because my boss tells me that I have to!
If you could go back in time which scientist would you like to meet and what would you ask them?
Strange question. I don't think I do hero worship! Quite seriously: there are many, many living scientists who I would like to meet and ask questions of. The most common one would be, “Ok, I've read and understood your papers and your theory – but how did you first get the idea?”
What do you do in your free time?
Well, I've got 3 kids, so I don't get too much free time! But I am interested in computers and technology. To get outdoors, I do long distance running. (I am training for a marathon at the moment.)
What is the first science you remember doing?
I'm not sure what “doing science” means. I've always been interested (so far as I can remember – probably since I was about 5 or 6 years old) in thinking about how things work and why things are the way they are. In fact, as a small child I even had a book called “How Things Work”. But I don't remember the first time I did my first “formal” scientific experiment.
What advice would you give a school child who is interested in science?
Take an interest in the world around you – and don't forget there is no such thing as a stupid question. I've found very often (even amongst the eminent scientific community) when something is said to be “obvious” - it is exactly the opposite! We often say things are “obvious” or “clear” because it is actually very difficult to think them through and explain them. So if a teacher or adult tells you that something is “obvious” don't be afraid to challenge them!
What’s the funniest/strangest/most surprising experience you have had in your career?
Over the last couple of years I've done a fair amount of media work. It's a fascinating experience to see what goes on behind the scenes in making a TV programme – on several occasions now I have been hoisted up on a large crane so that I can be interviewed looking down on a traffic jam – this was far from comfortable for me, because I am very scared of heights!
What discovery or invention could you really not live without?
Mobile phones and the internet. Wait! That's two inventions – or is it? They are combined on my smartphone! I remember “browsing the web” for the first time in December 1994, and it was about the same time I bought my first mobile phone. That's only just over 15 years ago – and it's no exaggeration to say that the world has changed since then. For me, the smartphone revolution is changing the world yet again.
What do you think is the most important thing yet to be discovered/invented?
If I knew the answer to that, I'd probably be very rich! But for me the new scientific frontier is where the physical sciences meet the social sciences. So far it has been impossible to build models of human behaviour with the same accuracy and robustness that we build models of the physical world – one big problem has been the difficultly of experiments and the consequent lack of data. But the digital revolution is changing that. It's an optimistic view – but I hope one day that we will be able to build predictive models of human behaviour and society in the same way that we can build predictive models of physical stuff ranging from molecules to galaxies!