We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

All over the world there are enormous numbers of smart, even gifted, people who harbor a passion for science. But that passion is unrequited. Surveys suggest that some 95% of Americans are "scientifically illiterate." That's...the same fraction...of slaves who were illiterate before the Civil War.

Who will speak for Planet Earth?

Eratosthenes's only tools were sticks, eyes, feet, and brains; plus a zest for experiment. With those tools he correctly deduced the circumference of the Earth, to high precision, with an error of only a few percent. That's pretty good figuring for 2200 years ago.

Human beings grew up in forests; we have a natural affinity for them. How lovely a tree is, straining toward the sky.

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

Science is a way of thinking that helps you not to fool yourself.