Jim Al-Khalili

That was fascinating.

Did you enjoy your A-levels?

What did you think about that?

Good enough reason as any.

Now then, given where you've ended up in your career, you applied to study computer science.

Why?

Yes.

In fact, before you got to Cambridge, you had only lived in the UK for two years and so you were still classed as an overseas student.

So you had to wait another couple of years before you'd qualify for home fees.

Cambridge kept that place open for you.

What did you do in the meantime, though?

There's all these different computer languages.

I always tell my students, if you learn to code in one language, basically what you're doing is learning to think the way a computer does.

And it's not so difficult to convert it to another.

Well, in 1994, Hiranya, you started at Cambridge to study computer science.

What was that like?

It's a continuation of your school days experience.

You found it so inspiring, you decided to switch degrees from computer science to physics, which you knew would then open the door to astrophysics, the bridge between physics and astronomy.

And during your third year, you met one of your childhood heroes, Stephen Hawking.

Well, after completing your degree, you embarked on a PhD at Princeton University in the US in their Department of Astrophysical Sciences.