As far as Atheism goes, I understand and can see it. In essence, I am an Agnostic Atheist right now (not 100% sure, but leaning towards Atheism over religiosity while looking at Christianity with a skeptical and empirical eye).
When I look to the sky over the Rocky mountains, what do I see? Do I see heaven and Angels or the wonder of God? Not exactly. Beyond the puffy clouds and blue-hued sky I think of space. How vast it is. How unfathomable. How I, standing on a spot of grass on our tiny pale blue dot is just a fraction of an atom in the sheer vastness of existence. It doesn't make me sad, it makes me happy because it means here I am. A bipedal mammal on a tiny little rock capable of contemplating my own insignificance in relation to the rest of the universe. It's a beautiful thing. It means we are special (either divinely or no, that point is moot right now).
Science without wonder is worthless. That's where a lot of religious people go wrong, they believe science is this cold, hard, uncompromising calculator rigidly punching out hypothesis, theories and facts. That's not the case at all. Scientists are more akin to Priests and Pastors than Mathematicians.
In order to discover and have the will to discover new facts about our existence a Scientists would have to be filled with awe and wonder at the physical universe. They would have to have an imagination capable of comprehending the unknown and willing to dive deep into the abyss to grab a shred of truth.
That's how I see Atheism in my own romanticized way. It's not a lack of light, it's simply an 'embrace of the darkness to reveal the tiny, microscopic specks of light. One at a time.' Do I think Atheism and science will have all the answers in the next 50, 100, 500, 1000, 5000 years? No. Not really. We aren't supposed to. Once we know everything life becomes pointless in my opinion.
Cheers!