My parents were neither wealthy nor academic but we lived comfortably and they were always extremely supportive of my academic efforts and aspirations both at school and university.
This possibility bothered me as I thought it was not advisable to remain in one academic environment and the long dark winters in Edinburgh could be rather dismal.
At age 11 in 1960 I moved to an academic state secondary school Harrow County Grammar School for Boys.
After an extensive interview he arranged for my weaknesses in foreign languages to be over-looked and so I started a Biology degree at Birmingham in 1967.
It was during my time at secondary school that I abandoned religion.
I was by far the youngest of the family and at times it was like being an only child.
During the winter my attention was attracted to the changes in the stars and planets in the sky.
I think it was this curiosity about the natural world which awoke my early interest in science.
I was never very good at exams having a poor memory and finding the examination process rather artificial and there never seemed to be enough time to follow up things that really interested me.
Scientific understanding is often beautiful a profoundly aesthetic experience which gives pleasure not unlike the reading of a great poem.
This time at Birmingham turned me into a general biologist and ever since then I have always tried to take a biological approach to any research project that I have undertaken.
Better understanding of the natural world not only enhances all of us as human beings but can also be harnessed for the better good leading to improved health and quality of life.
My parents were born in Norfolk and spent their early years working in the big houses of that rural English county my mother as a cook and my father as a handyman and chauffeur.
I decided that the University of Sussex in Brighton was a good place for this work because it had a strong tradition in bacterial molecular genetics and an excellent reputation in biology.
It has been a privilege to pursue knowledge for its own sake and to see how it might help mankind in more practical ways.
I am still a keen mountain walker and an enthusiastic glider pilot.
Therefore I reasoned that study of the cell cycle responsible for the reproduction of cells was important and might even be illuminating about the nature of life.
I felt strongly that since the pursuit of good science was so difficult it was essential that the problem being studied was an important one to justify the effort expanded.
I have an idealistic view of science as a liberalising and progressive force for humanity.