Friday Philosophy

Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) may have been the scientist most in tune with the general public, by which I mean he could communicate complex ideas in a clear and even entertaining way (plus, he was a baseball fan, so he gets extra points from me). Here's an example:

"Few tragedies can be more extensive than
the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than
the denial of an opportunity to strive or even
to hope, by a limit imposed from without, but
falsely identified as lying within."