Great Throughts Treasury

"That our planet is the one and only planet where life has emerged would be a ridiculous assumption... Even if only one in a hundred of the ten billion suitable planets has actually got life well under way, there would be more than 100 million such planets. No, it is presumptuous to think we are alone."

"Theories crumble, but good observations never fade. "

"The freely roaming and unpoliced dinosaurs, I like to remember, had no plumbing."

"The solar system is off center and consequently man is too."

"It seems to me that the evidence ... is opposed to the view that the spirals are individual galaxies comparable with our own. In fact, there appears as yet no reason for modifying the tentative hypothesis that the spirals are not composed of typical stars at all, but are truly nebulous objects."

"The Pole moves from day to day. Perhaps if commander Byrd did not strike the exact spot with his flag the Pole will find the flag. "