Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
By looking far out into space we are also looking far back into time, back toward the horizon of the universe, back toward the epoch of the Big Bang.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Exploring space helps us understand the history of the universe and our place within it.
In this quote, Carl Sagan highlights the profound relationship between space and time. By observing distant celestial objects, we are not only witnessing their current state but also looking back in time to the very origins of the universe, such as the Big Bang. This perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of time, space, and our understanding of cosmic events.
Themes
SpaceTimeUniverseBig BangCosmosExploration
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about astrophysics, to explain the relationship between the universe and time.
More from Carl Sagan
All quotes βIn more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
Carl SaganRead
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
Carl SaganRead
The hole in the ozone layer is a kind of skywriting. At first it seemed to spell out our continuing complacency before a witch's brew of deadly perils. But perhaps it really tells of a newfound talent to work together to protect the global environment.
Carl SaganRead
There is a reward structure in science that is very interesting: Our highest honors go to those who disprove the findings of the most revered among us. So Einstein is revered not just because he made so many fundamental contributions to science, but because he found an imperfection in the fundamental contribution of Isaac Newton.
Carl SaganRead
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
Carl SaganRead
Similar quotes
At their best, at their most creative, science and engineering are attributes of liberty-noble expressions of man's God-given right to investigate and explore the universe without fear of social or political or religious reprisals.
David SarnoffRead
We've all been sick; we're all afraid of infection. I think the easiest application to help people understand what quorum sensing is and why it's important to study is to tell them that if we could make the bacteria either deaf or mute, we could create new antibiotics.
Bonnie BasslerRead
As life forms, viruses are just inherently interesting. It's the microworld - this universe of life too small for us to see - but it's profoundly complicated, and immensely powerful. Ebola is like a beautiful and frightening predator. There is a wonder in the operations of nature that can't be denied, even when we're the losers.
Richard PrestonRead
This afternoon, I've arranged for this ceremony to be illuminated by solar power.
Jimmy CarterRead
In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting.
Lord KelvinRead
The works of Lavoisier and his associates operated upon many of us at that time like the Sun's rising after a night of moonshine: but Chemistry is now betrothed to the Mathematics, and is in consequence grown somewhat shy of her former admirers.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead