But every day I go to work I’m making a bet that the universe is simple, symmetric, and aesthetically pleasing – a universe that we humans, with our limited perspective, will someday understand.

The big bang, the most cataclysmic event we can imagine, on closer inspection appears finely orchestrated.

There is no doubt that a parallel exists between the big bang as an event and the Christian notion of creation from nothing.

With something like Chernobyl, the public reaction was Oh, my God, science has really done wrong.

My name is George Smoot III, and I am smarter than a fifth-grader.

I played football and ran track in junior high, but by high school I was getting serious about my studies.

Both my parents instilled an interest in science and mathematics.

People have contemplated the origin and evolution of the universe since before the time of Aristotle. Very recently, the era of speculation has given way to a time of science.

I think we all want to know where we came from and how we fit into the world, but some of us need to know how it all works in great detail.

With something like Chernobyl, the public reaction was 'Oh, my God, science has really done wrong.'