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Asked by geordiecatcher to Rachael, Damien, Simon, Suzi, Tim on 16 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by justiekeeling7.
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Rachael Ward answered on 13 Jun 2011:
Hi geordiecatcher,
Thats a good, but really hard question to answer. I don’t really have a favourite scientist. There are a couple of scientists I’ve worked with that I really respect and were my mentors when I was an undergraduate and PhD student.
As far as “famous” scientists go, Rita Levi-Montalcini is an inspiration to me. She won a Nobel prize for discovering nerve growth factor which is essential for a neurons survival and maintenance, and is particularly important for sensory neurons. You can read more about her here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Levi-MontalciniI also like Brian Cox and Jim Al-Khalili – you may have seen them on the telly? They are both physicists so don’t work in my field but I think they are really good at making very difficult subjects easier to understand and thats really important in science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_%28physicist%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Al-KhaliliHow about you? Do you have a favourite scientist?
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Suzi Gage answered on 16 Jun 2011:
Hi @geordiecarcger and @justiekeeling7
Good question.
I agree with Rachael about Brian Cox and Jim Al-Khalili, but my fave TV scientist at the moment is Dr Adam Rutherford, who’s done a great series of shows about the Cell, and also about genetics.Other great scientists include Richard Feynman, a brilliant physicist, Paul Dirac (a very strange physicist, but local to Bristol, and a Nobel Prize winner), and from the field I work in, Richard Doll, the man who first discovered that smoking caused lung cancer, really important work!
I got a book about his life for Christmas, and I’m off on holiday this weekend so I’m taking it for holiday reading!
Who are your faves?
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