Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Go out there and discover something new!

I'm not sure if I discovered pulsars or if they discovered me. Either way, it was a rather illuminating experience.

Being a woman in science in the 60s was like being a unicorn in a herd of horses. Everyone stared, but few understood.

My supervisor got the Nobel Prize. I got a pat on the head and a 'well done, girl.' Such is life in the fast lane of astrophysics.

They called them 'LGM' – Little Green Men. I suppose 'Big Green Women' wasn't quite as catchy.

I was told to 'stick to the knitting' when I expressed an interest in astronomy. Apparently, the universe wasn't considered a suitable subject for delicate female minds.

The universe is full of mysteries, but none quite as perplexing as why some men think they know everything.

My biggest regret? Not patenting the term 'pulsar.' Think of the royalties!

Some people spend their lives looking for love. I spent mine looking for rapidly rotating neutron stars. Arguably, one is more predictable than the other.

The universe doesn't care about your gender, your nationality, or your academic pedigree. It just *is*.

I've been called many things in my life, but 'unobservant' was never one of them. Especially not after finding pulsars.

If you want to make a discovery, sometimes you just have to be stubborn enough to keep looking at the squiggles on the paper.

The biggest challenge in science isn't finding the answers, it's convincing people to ask the right questions.

I often wonder if the pulsars are laughing at us, spinning away, oblivious to our Nobel Prize squabbles.

My advice to young scientists? Don't let anyone tell you what you can't do. Especially if they're wearing a tweed jacket and smoking a pipe.

They say necessity is the mother of invention. In my case, it was the mother of endless hours of data analysis.

The universe is a vast and wonderful place, full of things that will make you question everything you thought you knew. And that's a good thing.

I've always found that the most interesting discoveries are made when you're not looking for them.

Some people see a pattern, I see a potential alien civilization. It's all about perspective, really.

The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Or, in my case, discover something nobody knew existed.