Post by Tamrin on Jun 10, 2013 10:12:17 GMT 10
Man is constituted as a speculative being; he contemplates the world, and the objects around
him, not with a passive indifferent eye, but as a system disposed with order and design
Every student who enters upon a scientific pursuit, especially if at a somewhat advanced
period of life, will find not only that he has much to learn, but much also to unlearn
To the natural philosopher there is no natural object unimportant or trifling
A mind which has once imbibed a taste for scientific enquiry, and has learnt
the habit of applying its principles readily to the cases which occur, has
within itself an inexhaustible source of pure and exciting contemplations
Accustomed to trace the operations of general causes and the exemplification of general laws,
in circumstances where the uninformed and uninquiring eye, perceives neither novelty nor
beauty, he walks in the midst of wonders; every object which falls in his way elucidates some
principle, affords some instruction and impresses him with a sense of harmony and order
Nor is it a mere passive pleasure which is thus communicated. A thousand questions are contin-
ually arising in his mind, a thousand objects of inquiry presenting themselves, which keep his fac-
ulties in constant exercise and his thoughts perpetually on the wing, so that lassitude is excluded
from his life, and that craving after artificial excitement and dissipation of the mind which leads so
many into frivolous, unworthy and destructive pursuits, is altogether eradicated from his bosom
We must never forget that it is principles not phenomena, — laws, not insulated,
independent facts, which are the object and the inquiry of the natural philosopher
Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet, KH, FRS
English polymath
It can hardly be pressed forcibly enough on the attention of the student of nature, that
there is scarcely any natural phenomenon which can be fully and completely explained,
in all its circumstances, without a union of several, perhaps of all, the sciences
him, not with a passive indifferent eye, but as a system disposed with order and design
Every student who enters upon a scientific pursuit, especially if at a somewhat advanced
period of life, will find not only that he has much to learn, but much also to unlearn
To the natural philosopher there is no natural object unimportant or trifling
A mind which has once imbibed a taste for scientific enquiry, and has learnt
the habit of applying its principles readily to the cases which occur, has
within itself an inexhaustible source of pure and exciting contemplations
Accustomed to trace the operations of general causes and the exemplification of general laws,
in circumstances where the uninformed and uninquiring eye, perceives neither novelty nor
beauty, he walks in the midst of wonders; every object which falls in his way elucidates some
principle, affords some instruction and impresses him with a sense of harmony and order
Nor is it a mere passive pleasure which is thus communicated. A thousand questions are contin-
ually arising in his mind, a thousand objects of inquiry presenting themselves, which keep his fac-
ulties in constant exercise and his thoughts perpetually on the wing, so that lassitude is excluded
from his life, and that craving after artificial excitement and dissipation of the mind which leads so
many into frivolous, unworthy and destructive pursuits, is altogether eradicated from his bosom
We must never forget that it is principles not phenomena, — laws, not insulated,
independent facts, which are the object and the inquiry of the natural philosopher
Sir John Herschel, 1st Baronet, KH, FRS
English polymath
It can hardly be pressed forcibly enough on the attention of the student of nature, that
there is scarcely any natural phenomenon which can be fully and completely explained,
in all its circumstances, without a union of several, perhaps of all, the sciences