The media thinks that you have to make science sexy and concentrate on themes such as rivalry and the human issues.

When decisions on nuclear power stations and runways are delayed and the government dilly-dallies, people think they aren't important.

I imported the first Mac into England in 1984; you know, the beige box. I imported what I think were the first four that came into England. I never opened the instruction manual. That was the best thing about it.

If you didn't have patents, no one would bother to spend money on research and development. But with patents, if someone has a good idea and a competitor can't copy it, then that competitor will have to think of their own way of doing it. So then, instead of just one innovator, you have two or three people trying to do something in a new way.

I think people are realizing that engineering and science are extremely good degrees to get and you'll be very highly paid once you've got them.

So I think the winners in recession are the people who produce new technology that does things better, which people really want.

I think the search engines are the new equivalent of publishing: an enabler of information.

If you can't be unconventional, be obtuse. Be deliberately obtuse, because there are 5 billion people out there thinking in train tracks, and thinking what they have been taught to think.

Having a good idea is one thing, but persuading other people to buy it is quite another. Good inventors are polymaths: they think with their hands and their brains. They're experts in design, engineering and business.