What I really want to do is to open people’s eyes to the elegance and the beauty of the world as seen through scientific eyes. And if religion is a casualty of that, so much the better. Richard Dawkins, In Confidence 2010
Science does actually tell you about the Meaning of Life; that you would say is the explanatory domain. We all make our own Meaning of Life. ibid.
More and more of us realise there is no God and yet religion still has a hold over us. I think ideas of saints and sinners, heaven and hell, still shape our thinking. I want to give you a scientific alternative. Richard Dawkins, Sex, Death and The Meaning of Life I: Sin, Channel 4 2012
What happens as we move on and leave religion behind? What will guide and inspire us in a world free from all gods? How can an atheist find meaning in life? ibid.
Science shows we humans are hardwired to have empathy. ibid.
Science is interesting, and if you don’t agree you can fuck off. Richard Dawkins, cited former editor of New Scientists Magazine
Science is magical in the best sense of being spellbinding, spine-crawling, exciting. Richard Dawkins
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. Richard Dawkins
It has become almost a cliché to remark that nobody boasts of ignorance of literature, but it is socially acceptable to boast ignorance of science and proudly claim incompetence in mathematics. Richard Dawkins
Science offers the best answers to the meaning of life. Science offers the privilege of understanding before you die why you were ever born in the first place. Richard Dawkins
The Blind Watchmaker – which would set the stage for his role as a defender of science against the claims of Creationists. Beautiful Minds s2e3: Richard Dawkins, BBC 2012
The poetry of reality is science. Richard Dawkins, The Unbelievers, 2013
The battle for evolution is just a skirmish in a larger war. A larger war for rationality, for scepticism, for critical thinking, for a rational scientific view. Richard Dawkins, with Dan Dennett & Sam Harris & Ayaan Hirsi Ali, GAC Melbourne 2012
Even those who do not, or cannot, avail themselves of a scientific education, choose to benefit from the technology that is made possible by the scientific education of others. Richard Dawkins, A Devil's Chaplain
In parts of the United States, science is under attack from a well-organized, politically well-connected and, above all, well-financed opposition, and the teaching of evolution is in the front-line trench. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion p66
Asking if God exists is a valid question for science. Stephen Hawking, Did God Create the Universe? 2011
We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special. Stephen Hawking
One, remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Two, never give up work. Work gives you meaning and purpose and life is empty without it. Three, if you are lucky enough to find love, remember it is there and don’t throw it away. Stephen Hawking
Philosophy is dead. I believe Science holds the key. Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design: The Meaning of Life, Apple 2012
Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge. Stephen Hawking
Many of us are concerned about who has access to all this personal information. And how corporations and governments might use and abuse it. Brave New World with Stephen Hawking II: Technology, Kathy Sykes, Channel 4 2011
By collecting and analysing data from mobile phone users Sandy and his team are about to predict certain elements of an individual’s behaviour with up to 95% accuracy. ibid.
Reality mining is technology getting personal. ibid.
Technology is the engine that drives society. ibid.
‘Designers and engineers are constantly looking for better ways to manufacture the objects that surround us.’ ibid. Max Lamb, product designer
‘With this process you simply create a design and press print.’ ibid.
The commercialisation of space travel comes at a critical time. ibid. Hawking
‘Abu Dhabi ... One of the hottest places on Earth. It is a city that has harnessed the power technology to defy the laws of Nature.’ ibid. Tara Shine, environmental scientist
‘I believe the real cities of the future need to use technology in a radically different way.’ ibid.
‘Masdar, an experimental city rising out of the desert ... A sustainable metropolis for forty thousand people.’ ibid.
‘For me I think the greatest achievement of science is to allow humanity to realise that our world is comprehensible.’ ibid. Jim Al Khalili
‘Our sanity to some degree depends on our understanding what goes on around us.’ ibid. David Attenborough
‘Reason is science.’ ibid.
How does our universe work and how did it begin? ibid. Hawking
‘Neutrinos … are believed to be fundamental to the way our universe works.’ ibid. Kathy Sykes
‘Neutrinos have been dubbed the ghost particle.’ ibid.
‘A neutrino detector ... We can show you it from the inside ... This giant acrylic globe ... Usually there is a thousand tons of [heavy] water in here.’ ibid.
Technology touches all of our lives and changes them in ways that are hard to predict. ibid. Hawking
Science is on the brink of changing your life. Right now men and women around the world are making amazing breakthroughs. Brave New World with Stephen Hawking, Channel 4 2011
We will show you how science is a force for good. ibid.
Using opto-genetics on humans is still a long way off. ibid.
Science is about to change your life. I am Stephen Hawking and I’d like to give you a glimpse of your future. In this series five top scientists will investigate game-changing innovations. The shockwaves of progress are heading your way ... So welcome to the science of the future. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future I: Inspired by Nature, National Geographic 2014
I believe we won’t survive another one thousand years unless we find ways to expand our civilisation into space. ibid.
An infection can spread like wildfire. What we need is a way to instantly identify these pathogens so we can stop them before they get to us. ibid.
‘Outbreak: a deadly infection claims its first victims. Cause: unknown. A new strain of virus, a lethal bacterium, even bio-terrorism. There’s a race to find the source.’ ibid. Jim Al-Khalili
The world we live in is a dangerous place ... Our five scientists investigate breakthrough technologies that are transforming our responses to life-threatening situations. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future II: Code Red
The boundaries between the physical and the virtual are starting to blur. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future III: Virtual World
One hundred years ago one in ten people lived in an urban area. By 2050 this will increase to seven out of ten. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future IV: Perfect City
The ultimate convergence of man and machine is inevitable. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future V: Designer Human
I believe that one of this decade’s defining characteristics will be connected technology … Connectivity is bringing us revolutionary breakthroughs. Stephen Hawking’s Science of the Future VI: Hyper Connections
Science can lift people out of poverty and cure disease. That in turn will reduce civil unrest. Stephen Hawking
I have lived over two-thirds of my life with the threat of death hanging over me. Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Mine, Channel 4 2013
I felt somewhat of a tragic character. I took to listening to Wagner. ibid.