For me, science is already fantastical enough. Unlocking the secrets of nature with fundamental physics or cosmology or astrobiology leads you into a wonderland compared with which beliefs in things like alien abductions pale into insignificance.
Interpretation
Science reveals the wonders of nature, making fantastical beliefs seem trivial.
In this quote, Paul Davies emphasizes the incredible revelations that science offers in understanding the universe through disciplines like physics, cosmology, and astrobiology. He suggests that these scientific discoveries are so awe-inspiring that they render fanciful beliefs, such as alien abductions, insignificant by comparison.
In practice
During a science presentation, one might say, 'As Paul Davies pointed out, science unveils a wonderland of knowledge that far surpasses supernatural beliefs.'
The temptation to believe that the Universe is the product of some sort of design, a manifestation of subtle aesthetic and mathematical judgment, is overwhelming. The belief that there is "something behind it all" is one that I personally share with, I suspect, a majority of physicists.
Science, we are repeatedly told, is the most reliable form of knowledge about the world because it is based on testable hypotheses. Religion, by contrast, is based on faith. The term 'doubting Thomas' well illustrates the difference.
Although the elusive 'cure' may be a distant dream, understanding the true nature of cancer will enable it to be better controlled and less menacing.
Many investigators feel uneasy stating in public that the origin of life is a mystery, even though behind closed doors they admit they are baffled.
Traditionally, scientists have treated the laws of physics as simply 'given,' elegant mathematical relationships that were somehow imprinted on the universe at its birth, and fixed thereafter. Inquiry into the origin and nature of the laws was not regarded as a proper part of science.
The laws of physics ... seem to be the product of exceedingly ingenious design... The universe must have a purpose.
When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.
The reality is the majority of us will not get off this planet. So the long run is, some kind of space exploration has to benefit us here on Earth.
There are no black holes in the sense of regimes from which light can't escape to infinity.
What was most significant about the lunar voyage was not that men set foot on the moon but that they set eye on the earth.
I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
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