Scientific literacy is an intellectual vaccine against the claims of charlatans who would exploit ignorance

Ben laughed. "You think all religions are scams, don't you?"

"Yes, I suppose I do," Epstein said. "But the religions are mostly scamming themselves. That they scam others is usually a side-effect.

When scientifically investigating the natural world, the only thing worse than a blind believer is a seeing denier.

When asked about which scientist he'd like to meet, Neil deGrasse Tyson said, "Isaac Newton. No question about it. The smartest person ever to walk the face of this earth. The man was connected to the universe in spooky ways. He discovered the laws of motion, the laws of gravity, the laws of optics. Then he turned 26.

The more I learn about the universe, the less convinced I am that there's any sort of benevolent force that has anything to do with it, at all.

While the Copernican principle comes with no guarantees that it will forever guide us to cosmic truths, it's worked quite well so far: not only is Earth not in the center of the solar system, but the solar system is not in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy is not in the center of the universe, and it may come to pass that our universe is just one of many that comprise a multiverse. And in case you're one of those people who thinks that the edge may be a special place, we are not at the edge of anything either.