Vera Rubin

In a spiral galaxy, the ratio of dark-to-light matter is about a factor of ten. That's probably a good number for the ratio of our ignorance-to-knowledge. We're out of kindergarten, but only in about third grade.

We need senators who have studied physics and representatives who understand ecology.

Nobody ever told us all matter radiated. We just assumed it did.

There was just nothing as interesting in my life as watching the stars every night.

I try to do my science in a moral way, and, I believe that, ideally, science should be looked upon as something that helps us understand our role in the universe.

I had the usual friends who pointed out constellations of stars. But it really was watching the stars. It was getting some sense of the motion of the earth. I found it a remarkable thing.

I think the question is, are there women and have there been women who want to do science and could be doing great science, but they never really got the opportunity?

We know very little about the universe. I personally don't believe it's uniform and the same everywhere. That's like saying the earth is flat.

I knew there was a school where women could study astronomy. So... it never occurred to me that I couldn't be an astronomer.

I would prefer to stay up and watch the stars than sleep.

The real prize is finding something new out there.

Science progresses best when observations force us to alter our preconceptions.