When we started out and we were talking about the origins of the universe and the physical constants, I provided what I thought were cogent arguments against a supernatural intelligent designer. But it does seem to me to be a worthy idea.

If you are asking me if my more global purpose is a battle against religion, it is.

How any government could promote the Vardy academies in the North-East of England is absolutely beyond me. Tony Blair defends them on grounds of diversity, but it should be unthinkable in the 21st century to have a school whose head of science believes the world is less than 10,000 years old.

If something is true, no amount of wishful thinking will change it.

It is almost as if the human brain were specifically designed to misunderstand Darwinism, and to find it hard to believe

I've been reading an Alabama newspaper that one man shot another man because he beat him in a Bible-quoting competition.

Certainly I see the scientific view of the world as incompatible with religion, but that is not what is interesting about it. It is also incompatible with magic, but that also is not worth stressing. What is interesting about the scientific world view is that it is true, inspiring, remarkable and that it unites a whole lot of phenomena under a single heading.