Don't forget I'm from a military family. I was in special training in the army. I am tall, sporty and - how do you say - you can always protect yourself... I have very strong security.

My mum brought me to my first job when I was 12. I started electrical work at her plant. She was an engineer, a technical expert, at one of the plants in the south, and in the summer she brought me in and I learnt how industrial things work: casting, electricity, maintenance, everything.

I love the fact that it's not only about Star Trek, but about science fiction in general, and science.

To my mind, the most important aspect of the Nobel Awards is that they bring home to the masses of the peoples of all nations, a realization of their common interests. They carry to those who have no direct contact with science the international spirit.

I've always thought of science fiction as being, at some level, a 19th-century business.

I reveled in political science and history of all kinds, and I felt for a long time that I had discovered all the secrets of life in psychology, although its Freudian variety left me cold. The id never made much sense to me.