We consciously decide whether to consider people; we fall in love despite ourselves; we entirely fail to fall in love with people who fall in love with us. It is a mightily complicated business.

Simple determinism, whether of the genetic or environmental kind, is a depressing prospect for those with a fondness for free will.

A cumulative change of less than 2°C by the end of this century will do no net harm. It will actually do net good [...] rainfall will increase slightly, growing seasons will lengthen, Greenland's ice cap will melt only very slowly, and so on.

Ecology, like genetics, is not about equilibrium states. It is about change, change and change. Nothing stays the same forever.

We consciously decide whether to consider people; we fall in love despite ourselves; we entirely fail to fall in love with people who fall in love with us. It is a mightily complicated business.

The interaction of genetic and external influences makes my behaviour unpredictable, but not undetermined. In the gap between those words lies freedom.

This idea holds out hope that the human race will prosper mightily in the years ahead-because ideas are having sex with each other as never before.