The very fact of their presence, their hoarding of shelf space, the way the unread ones quietly guilt me, and their overflowing selves requiring organizing and dusting take mental energy and focus that I could be using more profitably elsewhere.

FORBES: Can You Have Too Many Books?

From the scientific perspective, for the story to close for science, flight rates have to be high, said Alan Stern, chair of the scientific organizing committee for the conference and associate vice president of the Southwest Research Institute's Space Science and Engineering Division in Boulder.

MSN: Suborbital spaceships spark scientific frenzy

Twenty feet wide, it is the building's organizing element and circulation spine, connecting the first four floors and continuing upward with bridges across the space and a narrower stair above as it ascends to the structure's full nine-story height.

WSJ: Cooper Union's New Building, at 41 Cooper Square | By WSJ Architecture Critic Ada Louis Huxtable