If we gave up eating beef we would have roughly 20 to 30 times more land for food than we have now.

The apologists for space science always seem over-impressed by engineering trivia and make far too much of non-stick frying pans and perfect ball-bearings. To my mind, the outstanding spin-off from space research is not new technology. The real bonus has been that for the first time in human history we have had a chance to look at the Earth from space, and the information gained from seeing from the outside our azure-green planet in all its global beauty has given rise to a whole new set of questions and answers.

We rushed into renewable energy without any thought. The schemes are largely hopelessly inefficient and unpleasant. I personally can't stand windmills at any price.

If it hadn't been for the Cold War, neither Russia nor America would have been sending people into space.

Civilization in its present form hasn't got long.

There is little evidence that our individual intelligence has improved through recorded history.

Science always uses metaphor.