The answer is not 42

During his long and illustrious career that now spans over 50 years David Triggle has had a major impact on biomedical science that can be linked to his research spanning the disciplines of chemistry and biology. Capitalizing on his undergraduate and postgraduate education in chemistry David’s early research explored the pharmacology of adreno- and muscarinic receptors ultimately leading to studies of the cellular signaling processes that mediated the effects of receptor activation particularly with respect to calcium homeostasis. David's contributions to the identification and development of calcium channel antagonists resulted in benefits beyond the impact of such drugs in the treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system. During David’s 50+ year career many technological changes have occurred that have affected how research is conducted, funded and published and how its impact evaluated. Not all of these technological advances are necessarily positive and it is valuable to reflect on the long lasting impact of David’s accomplishments with reference to such changes.