“No one ever wrote a story yet without some real emotional drive behind it--and I have not that drive except where violations of the natural order ... defiances and evasions of time, space, and cosmic law ... are concerned.” RealStoriesLawOrderNaturalSpaceBehindsEmotionalConcernedCosmicViolationDefianceEvasionNatural Order Book:Selected Letters 1934-1937 Source: Selected Letters 1934-1937
“Natural selection is just three factors - over-production, variation, and inheritance combined to produce adaptation to changing local environments. It's not a principle or progress; it's just a principle of local adaptation. You don't make better creatures in any cosmic sense; you make creatures that are better suited to the changing climates of their local habitats.” ThreeNaturalPrinciplesEnvironmentProgressProduceCreaturesClimateProductionsLocalsFactorsCosmicSelectionAdaptationInheritanceVariationNatural SelectionHabitat Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“The expectation of substantive unity between natural science and social science has faded.... Gone is the cosmic intention of placing man in the universe.” MenUniverseSocialNaturalGoneExpectationsIntentionUnityCosmicFadedSocial ScienceNatural Science Book:Closing of the American Mind Source: Closing of the American Mind
“The trend lines in research and innovation look good for places such as India and China and less good for America as we go forward. So even if you're not enchanted by the prospect of cosmic discovery, the prospect of dying poor may be what it takes to understand the role of this adventure in the future of the natural world in which we live.” IfsWorldLooksMayAmericaNaturalLinesPoorRolesDyingAdventureResearchDiscoveryIndiaInnovationChinaTrendsCosmicNatural WorldEnchantedResearch And Innovation Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson