But he knew well enough that any man in the right circumstances could be dehumanised by panic.

Now times had changed, and the inherited wisdom of the past had become folly.

I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

But please remember: this is only a work of fiction. The truth, as always, will be far stranger.

Though the man-apes often fought and wrestled one another, their disputes very seldom resulted in serious injuries. Having no claws or fighting canine teeth, and being well protected by hair, they could not inflict much harm on one another. In any event, they had little surplus energy for such unproductive behavior; snarling and threatening was a much more efficient way of asserting their points of view.

The fact that we have not yet found the slightest evidence for life - much less intelligence - beyond this Earth does not surprise or disappoint me in the least. Our technology must still be laughably primitive, we may be like jungle savages listening for the throbbing of tom-toms while the ether around them carries more words per second than they could utter in a lifetime.

Creationism, perhaps the most pernicious of the intellectual perversions now afflicting the American public.