If we ruin the earth, there is no place else to go

Our ancestors lived out of doors. They were as familiar with the night sky as most of us are with our favorite television programs.

Modern Darwinism makes it abundantly clear that many less ruthless traits, some not always admired by robber barons and Fuhrers - altruism, general intelligence, compassion - may be the key to survival.

Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition.

The vast distances that separate the stars are providential. Beings and worlds are quarantined from one another. The quarantine is lifted only for those with sufficient self-knowledge and judgment to have safely traveled from star to star.

The method of science, as stodgy and grumpy as it may seem, is far more important than the findings of science.

Who will speak for Planet Earth?