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Science Quotes by Martin Rees

50 Science quotes by Martin Rees

All Science quotes Martin Rees’s page

Martin Rees explains that most scientists focus on practical problems rather than grand origins like the universe. He stresses that hands‑on experiments and field trips teach science better than just talking about it. He also warns that the power of science can outpace the ethical limits we set, opening doors that may need to stay closed.

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One of President Obama's first acts was to give a massive boost to America's scientific community.

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“Almost any applicable discovery has a potential for evil as well as for good.”

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Science isn't just for scientists - it's not just a training for careers.

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It's important that everyone realizes how much scientists still don't know.

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The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.

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The U.S., France, Germany and Canada have all responded to the financial crisis by boosting rather than cutting their science funding. The…

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Science is a part of culture. Indeed, it is the only truly global culture because protons and proteins are the same all…

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General writing about science, even if we do it badly, helps us to see our work in perspective and broadens our vision.

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Given the scale of issues like global warming and epidemic disease, we shouldn't underestimate the importance of a can-do attitude to science…

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It's often better to read first-rate science fiction than second-rate science - it's far more stimulating, and perhaps no more likely to…

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There is an ever-widening gap between what science allows and what we should actually do. There are many doors science can open…

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Science is the one culture that's truly global - protons, proteins and Pythagoras's Theorem are the same from China to Peru. It…

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Crucial to science education is hands-on involvement: showing, not just telling; real experiments and field trips and not just 'virtual reality.'

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The bedrock nature of space and time and the unification of cosmos and quantum are surely among science's great 'open frontiers.' These…

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Let me say that I don't see any conflict between science and religion. I go to church as many other scientists do.…

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Scientists surely have a special responsibility. It is their ideas that form the basis of new technology. They should not be indifferent…

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I would support peaceful co-existence between religion and science because they concern different domains. Anyone who takes theology seriously knows that it's…

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I'm a technological optimist in that I do believe that technology will provide solutions that will allow the world in 2050 to…

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In this century, not only has science changed the world faster than ever, but in new and different ways. Targeted drugs, genetic…

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The Blair government perhaps ranks as the best the U.K. has had for 50 years. It cannot match the scale of Attlee's…

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Maybe the search for life shouldn't restrict attention to planets like Earth. Science fiction writers have other ideas: balloon-like creatures floating in…

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The physicist is like someone who's watching people playing chess and, after watching a few games, he may have worked out what…

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I'm not a specialist in the science but I have followed it fairly closely and it seems to me that there is…

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We can trace things back to the earlier stages of the Big Bang, but we still don't know what banged and why…

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It's better to read first rate science fiction than second rate science-it's a lot more fun, and no more likely to be…

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The scientists who attack mainstream religion, rather than striving for peaceful coexistence with it, damage science, and also weaken the fight against…

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Most practising scientists focus on 'bite-sized' problems that are timely and tractable. The occupational risk is then to lose sight of the…

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The politics is far harder than the science. And even if we accept the science we have a big issue of how…

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If you are teaching Muslim sixth formers in a school, and you tell them they can't have their God and Darwin, there…

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Some of the 'aha' insights that scientists strive for may have to await the emergence of post-human intellects.

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Science shouldn't be just for scientists, and there are encouraging signs that it is becoming more pervasive in culture and the media.

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“Nuclear weapons give an attacking nation a devastating advantage over any feasible defense. New sciences will soon empower small groups, even individuals,…

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The scientific community should work as hard as possible to address major issues that affect our everyday lives such as climate change,…

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It might seem paradoxical that the biggest scientific instruments of all are needed in order to probe the very smallest things in…

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The scientific issues that engage people most are the truly fundamental ones: is the universe infinite? Is life just a sideshow in…

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Scientists habitually moan that the public doesn't understand them. But they complain too much: public ignorance isn't peculiar to science. It's sad…

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We should all oppose - as Darwin did - views manifestly in conflict with the evidence, such as creationism... But we shouldn't…

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Most educated people are aware that we're the outcome of nearly 4 billion years of Darwinian selection, but many tend to think…

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Manufacturing doesn't just mean building cars and metal-bashing; it includes making pharmaceuticals and hi-tech electronics. A crucial part of the process is…

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The lives of those such as Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein are plainly of interest in their own right, as well as…

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More by Martin Rees

A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…

When scientists are asked what they are working on, their response is seldom 'Finding the origin of the universe' or 'Seeking to cure cancer.'…

The advance of science spares us from irrational dread.

“The Sun contains about a thousand times more mass than Jupiter. If it were cold, gravity would squeeze it a million times denser than…

“We, and the visible universe around us, may exist only because of a difference in the ninth decimal place between the numbers of quarks…

Crucial to science education is hands-on involvement: showing, not just telling; real experiments and field trips and not just 'virtual reality.'

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…

“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…

The next humans to walk on the moon may be Chinese. Only China seems to have the resources, the dirigiste government, and the willingness…

If we ever established contact with intelligent life on another world, there would be barriers to communication. First, they would be many light years…

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…

An insect is more complex than a star..and is a far greater challenge to understand.

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…

We are 'nuclear waste' from the fuel that makes stars shine; indeed, each of us contains atoms whose provenance can be traced back to…

Just as there are many Jews who keep the Friday ritual in their home despite describing themselves as atheists, I am a 'tribal Christian,'…