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Asked by marshmallow to Clare, Mariana, Pedro, Robert, Susanne on 12 Nov 2012.
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Susanne Muekusch answered on 12 Nov 2012:
Hi marshmallow,
no, not friends really. I met some famous scientists on conferences or other venues where they gave talks. I met for example nobel prize winners Eric Kandel (Neuroscientist) and James Watson (was one of those who discovered the DNA double helix structure).
Conferences are really great for meeting all kinds of interesting science personalities.
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Clare Taylor answered on 12 Nov 2012:
I’d say more of an acquaintance than a friend, but do I know Vivienne Parry (who used to be on Tomorrow’s World – an brill science show on TV) and who is now a journalist and broadcaster who presents programmes on Radio 4. Actually I saw Vivienne just last week and she has a new programme coming out about cancer so watch out for it!
I also happen to know Dr George McGavin from when we filmed Afterlife: The Strange Science of Decay last year! We had to spend hours together filming inside a giant plastic box filled with rotting food… we stank! George is awesome! Did you see Prehistoric Autopsy when it was on recently?
Like Susanne, I’ve also been lucky enough to meet some amazing scientists at conferences and other events – I was totally starstruck when I met Professor Anne Glover who is currently Chief Scientific Advisor to the European Union! People like Anne are like the science equivalent of rock stars!
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Mariana Campos answered on 12 Nov 2012:
Hello again marshmallow 🙂
Hmmm… Friends is a long way. But in my institute there is a Nobel prize winner Sir Tim Hunt. Is so nice to see that he is just a normal person like you and me. He doesn’t think that he is better than us, the ones that didn’t win such an important prize! I feel lucky that I can have lunch just sitting next to me. Also I’ve met in conferences or around in my institute many people that wrote the books that I used to study from when I was in university 🙂 It’s a good feeling! 🙂
I am hoping my friends (I have loads of scientists friends) will be famous and then I can just give you a short answer: Yes 🙂 Let’s talk in a couple of years 😉 -
Robert Insall answered on 12 Nov 2012:
Yes! I have a Nobel prize winner as a facebook friend, and I was pally with another guy who won a Nobel prize when he was just a normal bloke. I used to play cricket with one other Nobel winner (I was the captain, and he was a grumpy s**). I used to hang out with a Fields medal winner (the Fields medal is the equivalent of the Nobel prize for maths).
And my wife is a big shot too, though you won’t have seen her on TV. She’s off in London judging big awards for young scientists now.
Do you want to know a secret? Famous scientists are mostly pretty normal. They can say stupid things (sometimes as often as they say smart things). If they hit their thumbs with hammers they shout rude words. They like going out, and are fond of their kids, even if their kids can’t do maths very well. The Fields medallist was really, truly weird, however.
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