Marine biologist and oceanographer; first woman to serve as Chief Scientist of NOAA
I fell in love with the stories by William Beebe, who was an ocean explorer.
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 1991
Science and medicine
People on the record here who work in science and medicine, and what they were asked.
10 people · 275 answers
Which book changed the way you think, and what did it change?
Atmospheric chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1995
It was probably a series of biographies of scientists like Pasteur, or even earlier ones — Leeuwenhoek inventing the microscope and Madame Curie.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1996
Professor of psychology and cognitive science at the University of Toronto
I picked What Is Ancient Philosophy? by Pierre Hadot. That book, and philosophy as a way of life. And this is where Hadot brings out that philosophy is not primarily about the propositional.
Recorded · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2023
Neurologist and writer
The first biography I read — I think the first scientific biography — was Madame Curie . And my mother, who was a surgeon, worked at the Marie Curie Hospital.
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2000
Neurosurgeon; chair of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
I remember reading The Making of a Surgeon when I was in probably about the sixth or seventh grade. And that was a book that kind of got me focused, I think, on the career path.
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2001
Whose work makes you jealous?
Developmental biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1995
I felt at the time that Eric was much more successful than I, he was extremely productive during his time in Zurich, and worked on many very original projects, germ line, cell lineage, sex…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 1995
Neuroscientist; professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
there were a group of scientists from the University of Geneva who conducted a brilliant study.
Recorded · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2023
Mathematician and computer scientist; Turing Award, 1968
I worked for ten years with John Tukey at Bell Labs. He had tremendous drive. One day about three or four years after I joined, I discovered that John Tukey was slightly younger than I was.
Recorded · Bell Communications Research Colloquium Seminar (transcription hosted by the University of Virginia Department of Computer Science) · 1986
Author and probability researcher; Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at NYU
I say envious of people who are erudite. Like if someone knows Latin very well, I’m envious. If someone knows Sanskrit, I’m envious. And I discovered that early on.
Recorded · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2023
Which teacher, parent, coach or friend most made you who you are, and what did you learn from them?
Theoretical physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 1965
We'd walk in the canyons, and we'd often walk with Bethe, and Von Neumann, and Bacher. It was a great pleasure.
Recorded · Engineering and Science / Caltech Magazine · 1976
Developmental biologist; Nobel laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1995
we had a wonderful education because my parents were so practical … Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard: Yes I mean, I have a strong likeness of culture and also I mean my grandmother was a painter…
Recorded · Nobel Prize Outreach · 2003
Cardiothoracic surgeon; founder of the Texas Heart Institute
The man who inspired me most, I think, was Dr. Alfred Blalock, who was professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins. He was a rather simple man with a burning curiosity.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement
Paediatric neurosurgeon; director of paediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins, 1984-2013
I definitely had some teachers who were important. My fifth grade science teacher, Mr.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement
Physician and biochemist; Nobel laureate in chemistry for work on G protein-coupled receptors
One in particular, Mrs. Gordon. I hated her. I took AP English. The AP courses were just starting in the ’50s. And you could take a maximum of two. I took Chemistry and AP English.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement
Atmospheric chemist; Nobel laureate in Chemistry, 1995
I had a number of very good teachers in high school, in fact.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1996
Everyone here · A–Z
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Clare Bailey Mosley, Henry Marsh, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Mario Molina, Oliver Sacks, Paul Kalanithi, Richard Feynman, Shinya Yamanaka, Willem Kolff