Great questions in science — questions like the ones Herschel raised about the structure of the universe — are seldom answered by ivory-tower types engaging in pure thought. They are answered by people who are willing to get down into the trenches and grapple with nature. If that means casting your own telescope mirrors, as Herschel did, so be it.

Reading the Mind of God: In Search of the Principle of Universality, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1989