Of all the failed technologies that litter the onward march of science - steam carriages zeppelins armoured trains - none has been so catastrophic to prosperity as the last century's attempt to generate electricity from nuclear fission.

The media need superheroes in science just as in every sphere of life but there is really a continuous range of abilities with no clear dividing line.

Shun no toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other yet do not devote yourself to one branch exclusively. Strive to get clear notions about all. Give up no science entirely for science is but one.

Clearly romantic comedy is my franchise genre I don't mind saying that it's true. I love doing them and hopefully always will do them.

Writing fiction has developed in me an abiding respect for the unknown in a human lifetime and a sense of where to look for the threads how to follow how to connect find in the thick of the tangle what clear line persists.

I am for a clear distinction between public and private life. I believe private matters should be regulated in private and I have asked those close to me to respect this.

It is already clear after twenty years of socialism in Russia that if you do not provide your society with a new religion it will gradually revert to the old one.

Let me say this loud and clear. There is a world of difference between terrorist acts and the Islamic Shari'a. Islam is not only a religion but a way of life. And at its heart lie the sacred principles of tolerance and dialogue.

Then of course there are those sad occasions when a poet or a writer has not grown and one has to let them go because they're just not making headway. But we have a very clear personal relationship with the authors.

Putin has a lot at stake here and restoring the relationship with the United States and there are already signs as Sandy mentioned that he's moving in the right direction to begin to ascertain that their trade with Iran is not used for the production of nuclear weapons.