In the beginning there was dust, and one day the great, improbable experiment of life will return to dust. We are not secure. Just as our ultimate genesis was entangled with the birth of suns, and the terrifying tumult of asteroids and meteorites, so we are still bound to the cosmos.
A review of the history of life should provoke awe, above all else. As Goethe said, “Zum Erstaunen bin ich da”—I am here to wonder.