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We are more dependent on science and engineering than at any other time in history. However, there is plenty of evidence that far too many people are scientifically illiterate, often having been put off science at school.

Robert Winston

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Robert Winston
Age: 84
Born: 1940
Born: July 15
Academic
Physician
Politician
Professor
Scientist
Surgeon
Television Presenter
Inner and Outer London
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston
The Lord Winston
Lord Winston
Baron Winston
Professor Robert Maurice Lipson Winston
Baron Winston
Often
Scientifically
Science
Illiterate
School
Engineering
Many
Dependent
Time
Plenty
People
Evidence
However
History

More quotes by Robert Winston

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Parents should talk to their children, even when they are babies and can't talk back.
Robert Winston
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By discovering how our minds work, we can improve our learning power and unlock our true potential.
Robert Winston
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I love the French detective series 'Spiral.' It's quite brutal to watch, but I'm already hooked.
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It is important that legislation keeps pace with scientific progress.
Robert Winston
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Childhood is not dead. Children were worse off when we were hunter-gatherers they were threatened in medieval times and exploited during the Industrial Revolution. Was it any better in the time of Charles Kingsley or Charles Dickens?
Robert Winston
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I'm a traditional Jew with an orthodox background, and it informs much of my approach to science. Of course I think it's very important that if you have those sorts of backgrounds you don't impose them on other people as a clinician, of course.
Robert Winston
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However pragmatic you are, it is very demanding being a new parent.
Robert Winston
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My own field, the prevention of genetic disorders in babies, has been possible only because of humane work on animals.
Robert Winston
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Medicine, which I wouldn't be without, has also been a force for... less good. For example, if you look at our mishandling of the immune system, using antibiotics in children and avoiding infection, we've certainly increased the risk of asthma.
Robert Winston
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My first vote was for a communist in east London when I was a medical student. But I've voted Tory, Labour and Lib Dem in my time.
Robert Winston
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You can now modify the genes of large animals, and the largest animal we are concerned with is the human.
Robert Winston
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I don't much like being a public figure, because so often how people appear is not how they really are, and I think one of the issues about our society is that we make judgments about people on the basis of very flimsy evidence.
Robert Winston
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Scientists need to be prepared to engage, and the best people to engage with are students, ideally from primary school because there's no question that their capacity to work out complex things is extremely good.
Robert Winston
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Animal rights activists talk about cruelty and torture, some backing their assertions by publishing out-of-date photographs of experiments banned long ago. This is a misrepresentation. The work we do is performed with compassion, care, humanity and humility. I have never seen an animal suffer pain.
Robert Winston
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Now we have technology where we can modify the genomics of individuals by gene transfer and genetic meddling, we may find that people will want to modify their children, enhance their intelligence, their strength and their beauty and all the other so-called desirable characteristics.
Robert Winston
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Man is a competitive creature, and the seeds of conflict are built deep into our genes. We fought each other on the savannah and only survived against great odds by organising ourselves into groups which would have had a common purpose, giving morale and fortitude.
Robert Winston
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I think it's important for scientists to be a bit less arrogant, a bit more humble, recognising we are capable of making mistakes and being fallacious - which is increasingly serious in a society where our work may have unpredictable consequences.
Robert Winston
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Robots may cut down on infection and mean a consultant can see more patients, but wouldn't you rather meet the doctor than a machine?
Robert Winston
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I don't believe the fertilised egg can be equated with the sort of human life that you and I represent, or our children represent.
Robert Winston
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I don't know whether it is important to study science at a young age, though current thinking emphasises the need.
Robert Winston