How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph) Note that chapters aren't numbered, so need to be numbered manually, 1 to 14.
Quote #7
According to Muntius, Solaristics is the space era's equivalent of religion: faith disguised as science. Contact, the stated aim of Solaristics, is no less vague and obscure than the communion of the saints, or the second coming of the Messiah. (11.67)
Contact with aliens is like contact with God—tricky to pin down. Which makes sense: Have you ever tried to talk to you cat? If that doesn't work, it seems like aliens or God would be even tougher—or at least almost as tough. Meow.
Quote #8
"… Faust in reverse… he's looking for a cure for immortality! He is the last knight of the Holy Contact, the man we need." (12.29)
Faust was a medieval magician who supposedly made a deal with the devil for knowledge and power and immortality (the usual stuff). So Snow is comparing Sartorius to a reverse Faust, trying to give the devil back his deal by getting rid of the miracle visitors.
Quote #9
"Do you happen to know if there was ever a belief in an… imperfect god?" (14.17)
There have actually been beliefs in imperfect gods; there's a Christian philosophy called Gnosticism which has argued that the earth was created by a lesser spirit who didn't get everything right. And Joseph Heller in Catch-22 has a riff where he talks about how if there is a god he seems to be a drooling yokel who has screwed everything up. So Kelvin isn't original here (nor should he be since everything's a copy in Solaris).