Each of us is a tiny being, permitted to ride on the outermost skin of one of the smaller planets for a few dozen trips around the local star.

A blade of grass is a commonplace on Earth; it would be a miracle on Mars. Our descendants on Mars will know the value of a patch of green. And if a blade of grass is priceless, what is the value of a human being?

My parents were not scientists. They knew almost nothing about science. But in introducing me simultaneously to skepticism and to wonder, they taught me the two uneasily cohabiting modes of thought that are central to the scientific method.

We live in an in-between universe where things change all right...but according to patterns, rules, or as we call them, laws of nature.

Human beings have a demonstrated talent for self-deception when their emotions are stirred.

If you want to make a [rhubarb] pie from scratch, first you have to create the universe.

All of the books in the world contain no more information than is broadcast as video in a single large American city in a single year. Not all bits have equal value.