• Question: Who is your favourite famous science person

    Asked by zachemborough to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Edward Codling

      Edward Codling answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Many of the scientists whose work I like aren’t really that famous.

      I do like the TV series by Brian Cox though!

    • Photo: Jessica Chu

      Jessica Chu answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      There are a few but one that really struck me is Dr Barry Marshall.
      I would say he is a really brave and a bit of a nutter. Basically, Dr Warren and Dr Marshall had a prediction. They predicted Helicobacter. pylori (a bacterium) is one of the causes for stomach cancers. But it was very hard to grow H. pylori in the lab and people didn’t really believe them.
      So one day, Dr Marshall just swallowed a live sample of the bacterium (taken from his patient) and he then developed the same illness too and proved his point.

    • Photo: Christine Switzer

      Christine Switzer answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I don’t know if you get old episodes of his show over here, but my favourite scientist is Bill Nye. He is an engineer by training but gave it up to do science outreach instead. His show Bill Nye – The Science Guy came out while I was at university. It was designed to teach kids about science and it was the first programme that really got me thinking about how to communicate science.

    • Photo: Nicolas Biber

      Nicolas Biber answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      I really like Stephen Hawking (http://www.hawking.org.uk/). He is quite possible the most brilliant mind of our time. Where other people struggle even understanding what the problem is about, he seems to come up with the solution just like that. And I really like what he studies! 🙂

    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      Maybe this is a little bit clichéd but I would probably say David Attenborough. I grew up watching his wildlife programmes, and he has the best narrator voice ever! A true legend.

      Like Edd, I also enjoy a bit of Brian Cox,.. plus he used to be in a band which makes him cool 8) Brian May from Queen has a PhD in astronomy too!

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