Occupation: Astronomer Birth: June 23, 1942
All the atoms we are made of are forged from hydrogen in stars that died and exploded before our solar system formed. So if you are romantic, you can….
I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can't conceive. Just as a chimpanzee can't understand quantum theory, it could b….
I recall a lecture by John Glenn, the first American to go into orbit. When asked what went through his mind while he was crouched in the rocket nose….
The universe is still a place of mystery and wonder..
We need to broaden our sympathies both in space and time - and perceive ourselves as part of a long heritage, and stewards for an immense future..
It's better to read first rate science fiction than second rate science-it's a lot more fun, and no more likely to be wrong..
The physicist is like someone who's watching people playing chess and, after watching a few games, he may have worked out what the moves in the game ….
Science is a part of culture. Indeed, it is the only truly global culture because protons and proteins are the same all over the world, and it's the ….
I would support peaceful co-existence between religion and science because they concern different domains. Anyone who takes theology seriously knows ….
Campaigning against religion can be socially counter-productive. If teachers take the uncompromising line that God and Darwinism are irreconcilable, ….
If we ever establish contact with intelligent aliens living on a planet around a distant star ... They would be made of similar atoms to us. They cou….
Let me say that I don't see any conflict between science and religion. I go to church as many other scientists do. I share with most religious people….
Scientists surely have a special responsibility. It is their ideas that form the basis of new technology. They should not be indifferent to the fruit….
Most educated people are aware that we are the outcome of nearly 4 billion years of Darwinian selection, but many tend to think that humans are someh….
Scientists habitually moan that the public doesn't understand them. But they complain too much: public ignorance isn't peculiar to science. It's sad ….
In the beginning there were only probabilities. The universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the obser….
Indeed, our everyday world presents intellectual challenges just as daunting as those of the cosmos and the quantum, and that is where 99 per cent of….
I have no religious belief myself, but I don't think we should fight about it. In particular, I think that we should not rubbish moderate religious l….
Nuclear weapons can be dismantled, but they cannot be uninvented..
I think a few hundred years from now we'll start having the 'posthuman' era of different species..
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence..