The Shuttle is to space flight what Lindbergh was to commercial aviation.

The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion.

Now I'm a scientific expert; that means I know nothing about absolutely everything.

Any smoothly functioning technology will have the appearance of magic.

I'm sometimes asked how I would like to be remembered. I've had a diverse career as a writer, underwater explorer, space promoter and science populariser. Of all these, I want to be remembered most as a writer - one who entertained readers, and, hopefully, stretched their imagination as well.

We have to abandon the idea that schooling is something restricted to youth. How can it be, in a world where half the things a man knows at 20 are no longer true at 40 - and half the things he knows at 40 hadn't been discovered when he was 20?

Sometimes a decision has to be made by a single individual, who has the authority to enforce it. That's why you need a captain. You can't run a ship by a committee-at least not all the time.