"It has often been said that, if the human species fails to make a go of it here on the Earth, some other species will take over the running. In the sense of developing intelligence this is not correct. We have or soon will have, exhausted the necessary physical prerequisites so far as this planet is concerned. With coal gone, oil gone, high-grade metallic ores gone, no species however competent can make the long climb from primitive conditions to high-level technology. This is a one-shot affair. If we fail, this planetary system fails so far as intelligence is concerned."
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Atheists from EnglandNovelists from EnglandCosmologistsAstronomers from EnglandScience fiction authors from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
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Originally from Fred Hoyle, Of Men and Galaxies (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1964).
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle
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Fred Hoyle
Sir Fred Hoyle, FRS (June 24, 1915 – August 20, 2001) was a British astronomer and science fiction author.
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