“Neil Armstrong was no Christopher Columbus. In most respects, he was better. Unlike the famous fifteenth century seafarer, Armstrong knew where he landed. He also spent his time in public service, not in jail, and his passing was marked by world-wide encomiums. He ended his days as a celebrated explorer rather than a royal inconvenience.” WorldCenturyWidePassingPassingsJailRoyalPublic ServiceExplorersInconvenienceColumbusArmstrong Author:Seth Shostak
“There is a point of view among astronomical researchers that is generally referred to as the Principle of Mediocrity. ... If the Sun and its retinue of worlds is only one system among many, then many other systems will be like ours: home to life. Indeed, to the extent that this is true, we should be prepared for the possibility that, even in the Milky Way galaxy, billions of planets may be carpeted by the dirty, nasty business known as life.” IfsWorldWayLifeShouldMayHomeScienceViewsKnownPrinciplesSunPossibilityPlanetsPreparedPoint Of ViewBillionsDirtyMediocrityNastyBe PreparedGalaxyResearchersMilky Way Author:Seth Shostak
“The number of habitable worlds in our galaxy is certainly in the tens of billions, minimum, and we haven't even talked about the moons. And the number of galaxies we can see, other than our own, is about 100 billion.” WorldNumbersHavensMoonBillionsMinimumGalaxy Author:Seth Shostak
