Although I am one of the very few people represented here who was never technically a student of Dennis Sciama's (or a student's student or a student's student's student), I was, on the other hand, very much a student of his in a less formalized sense. He was a close personal friend when I was at Cambridge as a research student, and then a little later as a Research Fellow. Although my Ph.D. topic was in pure mathematics, Dennis took me under his wing, and taught me physics. I recall attending superb lecture courses by Bondi and by Dirac, when I started at Cambridge, which in their different ways were inspirations to me, but it was Dennis Sciama who influenced my development as a physicist far more than any other single individual. Not only did he teach me a great deal of actual physics, but he kept me abreast with everything that was going on and, more importantly, provided the depth of insight and excitement - indeed, passion - that made physics and cosmology into such profoundly worthwhile and thrilling pursuits.

I first encountered Dennis at the Kingswood Restaurant, in Cambridge, somewhat before I went up there as a research student, where I was introduced to him by my brother Oliver.