Atoms are mainly empty space. Matter is composed chiefly of nothing.

A galaxy is composed of gas and dust and stars - billions upon billions of stars. Every star may be a sun to someone.

If we long to believe that the stars rise and set for us, that we are the reason there is a Universe, does science do us a disservice in deflating our conceits?

You could just as well say that an agnostic is a deeply religious person with at least a rudimentary knowledge of human fallibility.

Arguments from authority carry little weight – authorities have made mistakes in the past. They will do so again in the future. Perhaps a better way to say it is that in science there are no authorities; at most, there are experts.

The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be.

My long-time view about Christianity is that it represents an amalgam of two seemingly immiscible parts-the religion of Jesus and the religion of Paul. Thomas Jefferson attempted to excise the Pauline parts of the New Testament. There wasn't much left when he was done, but it was an inspiring document.