Listen, talk, be respectful of people - and make sure that you have openness to where people are coming from. And you don't do anything that is unnecessarily antagonistic, that is only going to make you feel good because you've done it.

People should be called the way that they want to be called rather than us coming up with terms that maybe we're more comfortable with.

We're all different; we all have our ways of understanding ourselves and the way we live our lives and struggle with our humanity.

Abortion is a searing and divisive public policy issue precisely because two significant sets of rights are in conflict, and no matter which set of laws it enacts, society must choose between those rights.

I count myself fortunate to be able to participate in the life of science in this era.

I invented an algorithm for starting micro turbo-molecular vacuum pumps to be used in science instruments on a future Mars rover.

Science fiction writers aren't in the prediction business; they're in the speculation business, using 'hasn't happened' or 'hasn't happened yet' to create entertaining scenarios that may or may not anticipate future realities.

Tact and diplomacy are fine in international relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only one thing matters, and that is the facts.