Who could believe an ant in theory?
a giraffe in blueprint?
Ten thousand doctors of what’s possible
could reason half the jungle out of being.
—John Ciardi, 1969
The farther is an experiment from theory, the closer it is to the Nobel Prize.
—Irène Joliot-Curie
13
I could trust a fact and always cross-question an assertion.
—Michael Faraday, 1858
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, 1991
From a closer and purer league between these two facilities, the experimental and the
rational, […] much may be hoped.
—Francis Bacon, 1620
The understanding cannot perceive; the senses cannot think. Only through their union can
knowledge arise.
—Immanuel Kant, 1781
***
The art in scientific thinking—whether in physics, biology, or economics—is deciding
which assumptions to make.
—N. Gregory Mankiw, 1998
Pick your assumptions to pieces till the stuff they are made of is exposed to plain view.
—Eric Temple Bell, 1935
Model-making […] may be judged the most valuable part of scientific method because skill
and insight in these matters are rare.
—Herbert George Andrewarta, 1961
A theory has only the alternative of being right or wrong. A model has a third possibility: it
may be right but irrelevant.
—Manfred Eigen, 1973
One of the most insidious and nefarious properties of scientific models is their tendency to
take over, and sometimes supplant, reality.
—Erwin Chargaff, 1978
***
13
As quoted, without a date, by M. Markov in 1963.
30
On Science and Technology
a giraffe in blueprint?
Ten thousand doctors of what’s possible
could reason half the jungle out of being.
—John Ciardi, 1969
The farther is an experiment from theory, the closer it is to the Nobel Prize.
—Irène Joliot-Curie
13
I could trust a fact and always cross-question an assertion.
—Michael Faraday, 1858
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, 1991
From a closer and purer league between these two facilities, the experimental and the
rational, […] much may be hoped.
—Francis Bacon, 1620
The understanding cannot perceive; the senses cannot think. Only through their union can
knowledge arise.
—Immanuel Kant, 1781
***
The art in scientific thinking—whether in physics, biology, or economics—is deciding
which assumptions to make.
—N. Gregory Mankiw, 1998
Pick your assumptions to pieces till the stuff they are made of is exposed to plain view.
—Eric Temple Bell, 1935
Model-making […] may be judged the most valuable part of scientific method because skill
and insight in these matters are rare.
—Herbert George Andrewarta, 1961
A theory has only the alternative of being right or wrong. A model has a third possibility: it
may be right but irrelevant.
—Manfred Eigen, 1973
One of the most insidious and nefarious properties of scientific models is their tendency to
take over, and sometimes supplant, reality.
—Erwin Chargaff, 1978
***
13
As quoted, without a date, by M. Markov in 1963.
30
On Science and Technology