I began my academic life as a botanist with a strong interest in identifying pollen from prehistoric peat layers. This interest in microscopic images took me into a career studying cancer cells and their chromosomes.

The necessity to engage with the image in order to interpret its biological significance was important to me developing a strong awareness of how imagination and rational thought combine to produce and understanding of nature. In addition the microscope allowed me to appreciate the beauty and order of cellular structures.

Most of the time science moves forward in small incremental steps. My experience is that the researcher or learner with a well developed imagination can often move ahead in great leaps by seeing the whole picture rather than just the microcosm. In many cases only individual creativity can make complexity understandable.