Brian Cox

“We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself.”

—Brian Cox

“The problem with today’s world is that everyone believes they have the right to express their opinion AND have others listen to it.

The correct statement of individual rights is that everyone has the right to an opinion, but crucially, that opinion can be roundly ignored and even made fun of, particularly if it is demonstrably nonsense!”

—Brian Cox

“Every carbon atom in every living thing on the planet was produced in the heart of a dying star.”

—Brian Cox

“We explore because we are curious, not because we wish to develop grand views of reality or better widgets.”

—Brian Cox

“In science, there are no universal truths, just views of the world that have yet to be shown to be false.”

—Brian Cox

“The practice of science happens at the border between the known and the unknown. Standing on the shoulders of giants, we peer into the darkness with eyes opened not in fear but in wonder.”

—Brian Cox

“We're both clever and stupid in equal measure.”

—Brian Cox

“We're both clever and stupid in equal measure.”

—Brian Cox

“Perhaps we should not be too surprised that nature sometimes appears counterintuitive to a tribe of observant, carbon-based ape descendants roaming around on the surface of a rocky world orbiting an unremarkable middle-aged star at the outer edge of the Milky Way galaxy.”

—Brian Cox

“It is undoubtedly true that Galileo didn’t intend to challenge the very theological foundations of the Church of Rome by observing the Moon through a telescope. But scientific discoveries, however innocuous they may seem at first sight, have a way of undermining those who don’t much care for facts. Reality catches up with everyone eventually.”

—Brian Cox

“The current worldview is never claimed to be correct, in the very important sense that there are no absolute truths in science. The body of scientific knowledge at any point in history, including now, is simply the collection of theories and views of the world that have not yet been shown to be wrong.”

—Brian Cox

“Thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams exist on Earth because of electrical activity inside a 1.5-kilogram blob of stuff, which hasn’t changed much since the earliest modern humans began the long journey out of Africa”

—Brian Cox

“Things inexorably get worse.”

—Brian Cox