Post by Tamrin on Dec 9, 2008 14:46:20 GMT 10
Science is simply common sense at its best
The improver of natural science absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such.
For him, scepticism is the highest of duties: blind faith the one unpardonable sin
Thomas Huxley
Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776
Most institutions demand unqualified faith;
but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue
Robert K. Merton, Social Theory, 1957
I think science has enjoyed an extraordinary success because it has such a
limited and narrow realm in which to focus its efforts. Namely, the physical universe
Ken Jenkins
Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that
it would be unreasonable to withhold one's provisional consent
Stephen Jay Gould
A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty.
A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective
Edward Teller
The important thing in science is not so much to obtain
new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them
William Lawrence Bragg
The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us
to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it
Robert L. Park, in The New York Times, 7 December 1999
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver
after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths,
in the end the fresh air brings vigor,
and the great spaces have a splendor of their own
Bertrand Russell, What I Believe, 1925
In science it often happens that scientists say,
"You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,"
and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again.
They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human
and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day.
I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion
Carl Sagan, 1987
The improver of natural science absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such.
For him, scepticism is the highest of duties: blind faith the one unpardonable sin
Thomas Huxley
Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776
Most institutions demand unqualified faith;
but the institution of science makes skepticism a virtue
Robert K. Merton, Social Theory, 1957
I think science has enjoyed an extraordinary success because it has such a
limited and narrow realm in which to focus its efforts. Namely, the physical universe
Ken Jenkins
Science is all those things which are confirmed to such a degree that
it would be unreasonable to withhold one's provisional consent
Stephen Jay Gould
A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty.
A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective
Edward Teller
The important thing in science is not so much to obtain
new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them
William Lawrence Bragg
The greatest discoveries of science have always been those that forced us
to rethink our beliefs about the universe and our place in it
Robert L. Park, in The New York Times, 7 December 1999
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver
after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths,
in the end the fresh air brings vigor,
and the great spaces have a splendor of their own
Bertrand Russell, What I Believe, 1925
In science it often happens that scientists say,
"You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,"
and then they actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again.
They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human
and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day.
I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion
Carl Sagan, 1987