Martin Rees Quotes and Sayings - Page 1
More Martin Rees quote about:
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“In the beginning there were only probabilities. The universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the observers turned up several billion years later. The universe exists because we are aware of it.”
-- Martin Rees -
“The carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere is measured. It's uncontroversial. It's going up. We know that has a tendency to warm the atmosphere and we should be worried about that.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
-- Martin Rees -
“I'm not a specialist in the science but I have followed it fairly closely and it seems to me that there is among the experts a clear consensus that potential climate change is something to worry about.”
-- Martin Rees -
“The important point there is that when people talk about a mean temperature rise of say two, three or four degrees that's a sort of global average which really is a signature of large scale change in climatic patterns.”
-- Martin Rees -
“One of the computer models for a four degree temperature rise would give rise to a 10 degree temperature rise in Africa. And bear in mind also that in the depth of an ice age the mean temperature drop compared to the present was five degrees.”
-- Martin Rees -
“The politics is far harder than the science. And even if we accept the science we have a big issue of how to deal with it.”
-- Martin Rees -
“I think all countries need to aim to cut the CO2 emissions per person, taking account of externalities like imports and exports.”
-- Martin Rees -
“I'm a technological optimist in that I do believe that technology will provide solutions that will allow the world in 2050 to support 9 billion people at an acceptable standard of living. But I'm a political pessimist in that I am concerned about whether the science will be appropriately applied.”
-- Martin Rees -
“I'm not myself religious but have no wish to insult or denigrate those who are.”
-- Martin Rees -
“We should all oppose - as Darwin did - views manifestly in conflict with the evidence, such as creationism... But we shouldn't set up this debate as 'religion v science'; instead we should strive for peaceful coexistence with at least the less dogmatic strands of mainstream religions, which number many excellent scientists among their adherents.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Campaigning against religion can be socially counter-productive. If teachers take the uncompromising line that God and Darwinism are irreconcilable, many young people raised in a faith-based culture will stick with their religion and be lost to science.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Crucial to science education is hands-on involvement: showing, not just telling; real experiments and field trips and not just virtual reality.”
-- Martin Rees -
“To ensure continuing prosperity in the global economy, nothing is more important than the development and application of knowledge and skills.”
-- Martin Rees -
“In our interconnected world, novel technology could empower just one fanatic, or some weirdo with a mindset of those who now design computer viruses, to trigger some kind of disaster. Indeed, catastrophe could arise simply from technical misadventure - error rather than terror.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Science isn't just for scientists - it's not just a training for careers.”
-- Martin Rees -
“To most people in the U.K., indeed throughout Western Europe, space exploration is primarily perceived as what NASA does. This perception is - in many respects - a valid one. Superpower rivalry during the Cold War ramped up U.S. and Soviet space efforts to a scale that Western Europe had no motive to match.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Some claim that computers will, by 2050, achieve human capabilities. Of course, in some respects they already have.”
-- Martin Rees -
“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 moderate religious leaders like the Archbishop of Canterbury because I think we all agree that extreme fundamentalism is a threat, and we need all the allies we can muster against it.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Indeed, our everyday world presents intellectual challenges just as daunting as those of the cosmos and the quantum, and that is where 99 per cent of scientists focus their efforts. Even the smallest insect, with its intricate structure, is far more complex than either an atom or a star.”
-- Martin Rees -
“In the case of climate change, the threat is long-term and diffuse and requires broad international action for the benefit of people decades in the future. And in politics, the urgent always trumps the important, and that is what makes it a very difficult and challenging issue.”
-- Martin Rees -
“I would support peaceful co-existence between religion and science because they concern different domains. Anyone who takes theology seriously knows that it's not a matter of using it to explain things that scientists are mystified by.”
-- Martin Rees -
“In future, children won't perceive the stars as mere twinkling points of light: they'll learn that each is a 'Sun', orbited by planets fully as interesting as those in our Solar system.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Science is a part of culture. Indeed, it is the only truly global culture because protons and proteins are the same all over the world, and it's the one culture we can all share.”
-- Martin Rees -
“The U.S., France, Germany and Canada have all responded to the financial crisis by boosting rather than cutting their science funding. The U.K. has not.”
-- Martin Rees -
“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 if some citizens can't tell a proton from a protein. But it's equally sad if they're ignorant of their nation's history, can't speak a second language, or can't find Venezuela or Syria on a map.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Devastation could arise insidiously, rather than suddenly, through unsustainable pressure on energy supplies, food, water and other natural resources. Indeed, these pressures are the prime 'threats without enemies' that confront us.”
-- Martin Rees -
“The extreme sophistication of modern technology - wonderful though its benefits are - is, ironically, an impediment to engaging young people with basics: with learning how things work.”
-- Martin Rees -
“Scientists surely have a special responsibility. It is their ideas that form the basis of new technology. They should not be indifferent to the fruits of their ideas. They should forgo experiments that are risky or unethical.”
-- Martin Rees -
“We need to broaden our sympathies both in space and time - and perceive ourselves as part of a long heritage, and stewards for an immense future.”
-- Martin Rees
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