The most important advances, the qualitative leaps, are the least predictable. Not even the best scientists predicted the impact of nuclear physics, and everyday consumer items such as the iPhone would have seemed magic back in the 1950s. — Martin Rees Copy Share Image
Advances in technology - hugely beneficial though they are - render us vulnerable in new ways. For instance, our interconnected world depends on elaborate networks: electric power grids, air traffic control, international finance, just-in-time delivery, and so forth. — Martin Rees Copy Share Image
A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space… — Martin Rees Copy Share
When scientists are asked what they are working on, their response is seldom 'Finding the origin of the universe' or 'Seeking to cure cancer.'… — Martin Rees Copy Share
“The Sun contains about a thousand times more mass than Jupiter. If it were cold, gravity would squeeze it a million times denser than… — Martin Rees Copy Share
“We, and the visible universe around us, may exist only because of a difference in the ninth decimal place between the numbers of quarks… — Martin Rees Copy Share
Crucial to science education is hands-on involvement: showing, not just telling; real experiments and field trips and not just 'virtual reality.' — Martin Rees Copy Share
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… — Martin Rees Copy Share
“More energy is needed to rise a millimetre above a neutron star's surface than to break completely free of Earth's gravity. A pen dropped… — Martin Rees Copy Share
The next humans to walk on the moon may be Chinese. Only China seems to have the resources, the dirigiste government, and the willingness… — Martin Rees Copy Share
If we ever established contact with intelligent life on another world, there would be barriers to communication. First, they would be many light years… — Martin Rees Copy Share
There is an ever-widening gap between what science allows and what we should actually do. There are many doors science can open that should… — Martin Rees Copy Share
An insect is more complex than a star..and is a far greater challenge to understand. — Martin Rees Copy Share
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… — Martin Rees Copy Share
We are 'nuclear waste' from the fuel that makes stars shine; indeed, each of us contains atoms whose provenance can be traced back to… — Martin Rees Copy Share
Just as there are many Jews who keep the Friday ritual in their home despite describing themselves as atheists, I am a 'tribal Christian,'… — Martin Rees Copy Share
