Living organisms are created by chemistry. We are huge packages of chemicals.

We really have to look at the interactions between chemicals and the changing indoor air chemistry. That's something we can now do because we have the room-sized chamber.

Better living through chemistry

Modern scientific knowledge appeared piecemeal. Historians wrote about human history; physicists tackled the material world; and biologists studied the world of living organisms. But there were few links between these disciplines, as researchers focused on getting the details right.

What I was concerned with was life: what are the major features that are common to all living organisms that subtly define life. So I looked at the whole problem as a chemist, as a biochemist, and as a molecular biologist.

Bateman becoming an icon made me resentful. It will be on my tombstone that I created that character. And I resented that character haunting me.