I lose sleep at night wondering whether we are intelligent enough to figure out the universe. I don't know.

Nothing is a thing: it's nothing. So I can imagine a place where there's not even nothing.

People think about life from day-to-day rather than thinking about life as something that invents a new kind of tomorrow.

You can't have people making decisions about the future of the world who are scientifically illiterate. That's a recipe for disaster. And I don't mean just whether a politician is scientifically literate, but people who vote politicians into office.

Italy valued cathedrals while Spain valued explorers. So worldwide, five times as many people speak Spanish than Italian.

If it's a new planet, sign me up. I'm tired of driving around the block, boldly going where hundreds have gone before in orbit around earth-give me a place to go and I'll go.

If the only time you think of me as a scientist is during Black History Month, then I must not be doing my job as a scientist.