We are the only species on the planet, so far as we know, to have invented a communal memory stored neither in our genes nor in our brains. The warehouse of this memory is called the library

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.

The open road still softly calls, like a nearly forgotten song of childhood

What's the harm of a little mystification? It sure beats boring statistical analyses.

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

Since World War II, Japan has spawned enormous numbers of new religions featuring the supernatural.... In Thailand, diseases are treated with pills manufactured from pulverized sacred Scripture. Witches are today being burned in South Africa.... The worldwide TM [Transcendental Meditation] organization has an estimated valuation of $3 billion. For a fee, they promise to make you invisible, to enable you to fly.

Not all birds can fly. What separates the flyers from the walkers is the ability to take off.