• Question: Which is or was your favourite scientist?

    Asked by nilpach to Carrie, Cedric, Ellen, Rupert on 15 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Ellen Williams

      Ellen Williams answered on 15 Mar 2017:


      I don’t know if they class as ‘scientists’ or more ‘explorers’/’conservationists’ but they have to be David Attenborough and Gerald Durrell. Despite dying many years ago now Gerald Durrell inspired so many people that his work continues to live on. Which is really fab!

    • Photo: Cedric Tan

      Cedric Tan answered on 15 Mar 2017:


      Dragon! Does this answer count? haha the reason is simple, it has an evil and good side to it. In the west, it is mysterious and evil, in the east, its a symbol of wealth and luck!

      My real animal answer is Clouded leopard! Coz its secretive and yet charismatic and we don’t want it to become extinct. When we protect it, we protect the forest, the tigers and the leopards. Here’s my clouded leopard video:

      My second favourite animal is the dolphin. Everytime this question is asked, I have a new favourite animal. I reckon that’s because new fascinating behaviour is being discovered all the time. Check out this video on same-sex behaviour in animals, featuring the dolphin at one point:

    • Photo: Carrie Ijichi

      Carrie Ijichi answered on 15 Mar 2017:


      I don’t know if I have a favourite but Marie Curie discovered the first cure for cancer. That’s incredible but the reason I think she’s amazing is that she used herself as the test subject and died as a result of the radiation she exposed herself too. Imagine caring about science and other people so much that you give your own life to make a discovery and help people you’ve never met before?

    • Photo: Rupert Marshall

      Rupert Marshall answered on 15 Mar 2017:


      Sir David Attenborough is a scientist who is very good at explaining complicated ideas in simple ways and getting lots of people interested so definitely him.
      But I’m also a big fan of Sir Paul Nurse – he won a Nobel Prize for his work on how cells division is controlled and now runs a big research place in London. I like his idea that random meetings between scientists in different fields help us ask new questions and get new insights into life on earth and how it works. You can read about how he started off being interested in stars at primary school before discovering biology, here https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2001/nurse-bio.html

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