56 Alice Roberts Quotes for You to Enjoy

Alice Roberts

English Scientist

Born: May 19, 1973

Age Also Me People Science You

In fact, humans have less variation genetically than chimpanzees. Alice Roberts

Variation Fact Genetically Than In Fact Less Humans

The fate of the vast majority of species on this planet has been extinction, eventually. Alice Roberts

Fate Has-Been Vast Vast Majority Majority Been Planet Eventually Species Extinction

And when you take something like the changing colour of autumn leaves and start to ask why, you’re starting off on an intellectual journey which will take you beyond that moment of visual satisfaction, while robbing nothing from that experience. Alice Roberts

Journey You Experience Will Autumn Nothing Changing Visual Something Take Colour Like Robbing Beyond Leaves Intellectual Off Which While Ask Moment Satisfaction Why Start Starting

Spiders are always big in the autumn: they’ve had all summer to grow. Alice Roberts

Big Autumn Summer Spiders Had Always Grow

I’ve wanted to write a book on embryology, that extraordinary journey where you start off as a single cell and end up with a human body, for a general audience for years. Alice Roberts

Journey You Book Single Extraordinary General Write Audience Years Off End Up Cell Human Where Wanted Human Body Body Start

Choosing my career was always based on job satisfaction rather than financial security. I wanted to get a job in science; I enjoyed being a surgeon and I now enjoy being an academic and having a media career. Alice Roberts

My mum was an art teacher, so we used to have fantastic dressing-up costumes when we were little. Alice Roberts

Teacher Art Costumes Were Little Fantastic Used Mum

I consider myself to be a relatively sceptical person. I like to see evidence for myself, and try to avoid speculating beyond available evidence. But I also have to accept some things on trust. Alice Roberts

Myself Trust Try Consider Relatively Evidence See Some Some Things Sceptical Like Beyond Also Accept Person Available Avoid Things

I love prehistory - particularly the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. These were times when our ancestors made a revolutionary change from being hunter-gatherers to being farmers, and when great migrations of people spread languages - and genes - across Europe. Alice Roberts

Love Great Change Age People Made Our Ancestors I Love Bronze Genes Particularly Spread Were Times Revolutionary Being Migration Prehistory Across Languages Farmers Europe

Eighteen years later, pregnant with my first child, I started eating fish. Oily fish in particular contains plenty of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, essential for neural development. Alice Roberts

First Later Fatty Plenty Eating Neural Development Contains First Child Particular Fish Years Child Essential Eighteen Pregnant Started

Look what consumer power has done with organic food; we can do the same with clothes. Alice Roberts

Food Power Clothes Organic Consumer Look Same Done Organic Food

Around 4000BC, the Mesolithic, hunter-gatherer way of life here gave way to a more settled, farming existence. Those Neolithic people built wooden trackways across the salt marshes and reed beds. Alice Roberts

Life People Salt Gave Settled Way Those More Around Built Beds Reed Existence Wooden Across Farming Here

I gave up meat when I was 18, and it was an ethical decision. I loved the taste, and went on holiday to Greece, fairly gorging myself on lamb souvlaki before taking the plunge into a meatless existence. Alice Roberts

Myself Decision Before Gave Plunge Taking Fairly Existence Up Greece Taste Loved Holiday Lamb Ethical Meat

Did people’s attitudes towards me change after I appeared on TV? Yeah, definitely. During my career I’ve had some flak - particularly doing television. Alice Roberts

Me Change Definitely Television TV Some Had Towards Attitudes Particularly Yeah Doing Did Flak After Appeared Career

While planting woodlands along rivers has been shown to work in small areas, it has been unclear whether it would be effective on a larger scale. But computer modelling indicates that restoring forests on floodplains could slow floodwaters and reduce the height of the flood downstream. Alice Roberts

Work Slow Scale Has-Been Would Would-Be Restoring Small Area Unclear Could Computer Rivers Along Reduce Been Effective Forests Modelling Whether While Height Planting Shown Flood Downstream Larger Larger Scale

My childhood hero was David Attenborough. He opened my eyes to the wonder of the natural world. In fact, he’s still my hero. I interviewed him at the Science Museum in 2015, and he is such a thoughtful, humble and inspiring person. Alice Roberts

Later, I found it too hard to give up, and so I’ve continued eating fish and other seafood, while trying to ensure it’s sustainably sourced. This means I’m now one of those vegetarians I used to frown at - one who occasionally eats fish. Alice Roberts

At Bristol I found it quite difficult to continue trying to balance three things - teaching, research and public engagement, for which television was obviously the most prominent part. Alice Roberts

Balance Three Research Difficult Television Prominent Part Most Obviously Continue Trying Quite Which Public Engagement Teaching Found Things Bristol

I was effectively unemployed after my son was born. I resigned from Bristol because I wasn’t happy with the way my career was going then discovered I was pregnant when I was out of a job, but I was freelancing. Alice Roberts

Happy Son Job Way Out Born Because Discovered Effectively Unemployed Going After Pregnant Then Resigned Bristol Career

Whatever happens to science in schools, there's something peculiar going on if students don't see it as creative. Alice Roberts

Creative Science Whatever See Something Students Schools Going Happens Peculiar

When I was in my 20s, and even though I was studying medicine, I didn’t ever really think that my body would fail. Now I’m in my 40s, I have to face a different reality - I, like everyone else, am slowly falling apart. Alice Roberts