Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
Carl SaganRead
Human beings grew up in forests; we have a natural affinity for them. How lovely a tree is, straining toward the sky.
Interpretation
Humans have an inherent connection to nature, particularly forests, which symbolizes beauty and aspiration.
In this quote, Carl Sagan emphasizes the deep-rooted relationship humans have with nature, particularly forests. He highlights the beauty and elegance of trees as they reach for the sky, suggesting that our growth and aspirations are mirrored in the natural world around us. This connection to nature is not only profound but essential to our identity and well-being.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a presentation on environmental conservation.
Science is a way to not fool ourselves.
In more than one respect, the exploring of the Solar System and homesteading other worlds constitutes the beginning, much more than the end, of history.
How smart does a chimpanzee have to be before killing him constitutes murder?
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.
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.
The simplest thought, like the concept of the number one, has an elaborate logical underpinning.
I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
The world of life, of spontaneity, the world of dawn and sunset and starlight, the world of soil and sunshine, of meadow and woodland, of hickory and oak and maple and hemlock and pineland forests, of wildlife dwelling around us, of the river and its wellbeing--all of this [is] the integral community in which we live.
How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains!
I have thought that wild flowers might be the alphabet of angels, β whereby they write on hills and fields mysterious truths, which it is not given our fallen nature to understand.
It's a perfect wave when small and the most beautiful and scary wave on Earth when it's big, as the swell from deep water hits the shallow reef ledge. A ten-foot high wave and a 30-footer break in the same depth of water.
We are proposing buildings that, like trees, are net energy exporters, produce more energy than they consume, accrue and store solar energy, and purify their own waste, water and release it slowly in a purer form.
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