Robert Jastrow, the NASA astronomer, planetary physicist and popular author who decoded the complexities of space for a generation of Americans until his passing in 2008, told the witty tale of a scientist whose life was ruled by faith in the power of reason. Ultimately arriving at the highest peak in his quest to conquer the mountains of ignorance, the scientist scales the final summit -- only to find himself "greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries."