Harry Kroto: scientist with a common touch | Letters

In a year when we mourn the loss of many national treasures, I reflect with great sadness on the passing of Nobel prize-winning chemist Harry Kroto.

Harry was an alumnus of Bolton School, where I was studying when I had the good fortune to hear him accept the Dalton Medal at Manchester University in 1998. His story of scientific discovery and down-to-earth demeanour inspired me to pursue a career in science, but something he said that night has stuck with me even more. He spoke about the value, indeed the necessity, of communicating complex science to public audiences: "Scientific discoveries matter much more when they're communicated simply and well - if you can't explain your work to the man in the pub, what's the point?"