The rock, for its part, is not even aware of our existence because we are alive for only a brief instant of its lifespan. To it, we are like flashes in the dark.

Readers probably haven't heard much about it yet, but they will. Quantum technology turns ordinary reality upside down.

Scientific research was much like prospecting: you went out and you hunted, armed with your maps and instruments, but in the ened your preparations did not matter, or even your intuition. You needed your luck, and whatever benefits accrued to the diligent, through sheer, grinding hard work.

I operate under the assumption that the mass media will never be accurate. ... It operates with the objective to simplify and exaggerate, which is exactly what Walt Disney told his cartoonists.

This fascination with computer models is something I understand very well. Richard Feynmann called it a disease. I fear he is right.

Increasingly, the mathematics will demand the courage to face its implications.

They always say they didn't. I never heard of one who said, 'You know, I deserve this.' Never happens.