You could do math early, but there are no brilliant 16-year-old novelists. They don't know the human condition yet.

After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?

If you need to invoke your academic pedigree or job title for people to believe what you say, then you need a better argument.

Some molecules - ammonia, carbon dioxide, water - show up everywhere in the universe, whether life is present or not. But others pop up especially in the presence of life itself. Among the biomarkers in Earth's atmosphere are ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons from aerosol sprays, vapor from mineral solvents, escaped coolants from refrigerators and air conditioners, and smog from the burning of fossil fuels. No other way to read that list: sure signs of the absence of intelligence.

I'm often asked whether I believe in Global Warming. I now just reply with the question: "Do you believe in Gravity?"

You gotta be a good sport! So when I would lose, I would say, "That guy was better than I was; what do I have to do to be better next time?"

The center line of science literacy - which not many people tell you, but I feel this strongly, and I will go to my grave making this point - is how you think.