The technologies which have had the most profound effects on human life are usually simple. A good example of a simple technology with profound historical consequences is hay. ... It was hay that allowed populations to grow and civilizations to flourish among the forests of Northern Europe. Hay moved the greatness of Rome to Paris and London, and later to Berlin and Moscow and New York.

The fact that the climate is getting warmer doesn't scare me at all. There's no reason why one should be scared.

I belonged to a small minority of boys who were lacking in physical strength and athletic prowess. ... We found our refuge in science. ... We learned that science is a revenge of victims against oppressors, that science is a territory of freedom and friendship in the midst of tyranny and hatred.

The world is just - it's wonderful when you look at all the detail. It's just amazing.

I think it's a big mistake to decide too soon what you're going to do with your life.

The public has a distorted view of science because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries.

We cannot hope to either understand or to manage the carbon in the atmosphere unless we understand and manage the trees and the soil too.