The nuclear arms race is like two sworn enemies standing waist deep in gasoline, one with three matches, the other with five.

The immense distances to the stars and the galaxies mean that we see everything ins pace int he past, some as they were before the Earth came to be. Telescopes are time machines.

Books are like seeds. They can lie dormant for centuries and then flower in the most unpromising soil.

I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students.

If the constellations had been named in the twentieth century, I suppose we would see bicycles and refrigerators in the sky.

The chief deficiency I see in the skeptical movement is its polarization: Us vs. Them - the sense that we have a monopoly on the truth; that those other people who believe in all these stupid doctrines are morons; that if you're sensible, you'll listen to us; and if not, to hell with you. This is nonconstructive. It does not get our message across. It condemns us to permanent minority status.

Science is an attempt, largely successful, to understand the world, to get a grip on things, to get hold of ourselves, to steer a safe course. Microbiology and meteorology now explain what only a few centuries ago was considered sufficient cause to burn women to death.