Why is math seen as so hard? Why does it have that geeky connotation?

Very good question, and I agree with you there is that perception. I think people get scared of mathematics. Maybe they had a very bad experience with it when they were young and never got past a certain point so when they see math subsequently it brings a very fearful reaction. I wonder whether a lot of it depends on those early experiences of who the teacher was. People have said to me on a number of occasions, I wished you had been my math teacher. That is a real compliment because I like to be able to explain things that are inherently very complicated but in basic terms. It may have something to do with the educational system. I grew up in Britain of course so I didn't live in the United States until I was an adult with my job. I mean certainly I wouldn't claim that in Great Britain it's that much different, that people embrace mathematics more but my memory and impression was that it wasn't quite as fearful a subject over there; and maybe in other European countries as well. So I don't know why that is the case, whether it is something cultural or has something to do with the way the subject is taught or what it is.

What drew you to your particular career in science? Kids don't usually think when I grow up I want to be a quantum physicist.

Ever since I was very young I was interested in astronomy, in the universe, and in science in general. Then after secondary school I found I had a facility with math so that really took me and forced my interest in physics. Ever since I was about twelve or thirteen years old I knew that physics was what I wanted to do. And I always pursued the more theoretical and mathematical end of physics, which actually took me into theoretical physics, which I pursued right through to a Ph.D. and then a few years post-doctoral research. I loved it. But although I liked academia, I wanted to see what the real world was like and you can't do theoretical physics to earn a practical living outside of academic circles. There was an organization called the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and they had a policy of taking people out of academia and allowing them to pretty much come up the learning curve and teach themselves the technologies involved in safety and risk assessment. The mathematics in that field was not quite as sophisticated as in was in physics but it was still interesting enough that it would be challenge. So that was how I got into that field and I have worked in the risk assessment field ever since.