Famous quotes
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“The problem of transmitting scientific knowledge is a very difficult business.”
Jack Steinberger (1921–2020) first seen 1988 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with the 1988 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Jack Steinberger, at the 58th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, July 2008.
“Eugenics, of course, topples easily into racism. Engels himself wrote of the "racial trash" - the groups who would necessarily be supplanted as scientific socialism came into its own. Season this outlook with a sprinkling of anti-capitalism and you often got Leftist anti-Semitism.”
Daniel Hannan (born 1971) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Anyone who dares to speak about an aether is regarded as an ignorant and backward mind and he can only lose his credibility in scientific circles, although in reality those who criticize him use the same concept of intermediate medium in other words, whether it be fields, an associated fluid, a probability fluid, a pilot fluid, a quantum fluid, etc.”
Maurice Allais (1911–2010) first seen 1997 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: L'anisotropie de l'espace. La nécessaire révision de certains postulats des théories contemporaines. Les données de l'expérience (1997), p. 506 ISBN 2-908735-09-1
“Scientific theory and its application to the growing needs of mankind advance hand in hand.”
Cargill Gilston Knott (1856–1922) said by 1922 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Generally there is Stigler’s law of eponymy that says that a scientific notion is never attributed to the right person; in particular, the law is not due to Stigler.”
Dennis Lindley (1923–2013) said by 2013 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Creativity makes life valuable. Man is the sole creator; he stands out from the swarming masses of petty little folks. It doesn't matter what kind of creativity it is - whether scientific or socio-political - it's of equal value.”
Igor Tamm (1895–1971) said by 1971 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“These are the limits of the scientific method and of logic itself, insofar as they must rely on language. Our words are built on the objects of our experience. They have acquired their effectiveness by adapting themselves to the occurrences of our everyday world. But when we approach realities of another scale, these words can become obstacles.”
Hubert Reeves (1932–2023) first seen 1984 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hubert Reeves (1984) Atoms of silence: an exploration of cosmic evolution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. p. 37
“Oh, Adolin, Shallan thought. He’d arrived at a theory he liked, and now wouldn’t let it go. It was a common mistake warned of in her scientific books.”
Brandon Sanderson (born 1975) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Out-of-date theories are not in principle unscientific because they have been discarded. That choice, however, makes it difficult to see scientific development as a process of accretion.”
Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Scientific revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense... that an existing paradigm has ceased to function adequately in the exploration of an aspect of nature to which that paradigm itself had previously led the way.”
Thomas Kuhn (1922–1996) said by 1996 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 91 (2012 ed.)
“An exploration of the challenges Korea faces in transforming its economy from a government-directed, low-cost producer to an innovative world economic power based on its own scientific and technological development.”
Lewis M. Branscomb (1926–2023) first seen 1996 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lewis M. Branscomb, Young-Hwan Choi (1996) Korea at the turning point: innovation-based strategies for development
“Scientists are used to debating with one another about the finer points of new research. But increasingly, they find themselves battling their televisions and computer screens, which transmit ever-more-heated rhetoric from politicians, pundits, and other public figures who misinterpret, misrepresent, and malign scientific results.”
Lewis M. Branscomb (1926–2023) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Lewis M. Branscomb and Andrew A. Rosenberg, "Science and Democracy" The Scientist, October 1, 2012.
“Acid rain is a short-hand term that covers a set of highly complex and controversial environmental problems. It is a subject in which emotive and political judgements tend to obscure the underlying scientific issues which are fairly easily stated but poorly understood.”
Basil John Mason (1923–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The religious approach to spirituality is like delighting in a gourmet meal; the scientific approach is like studying recipes or chemically analyzing the ingredients of the menu.”
Varadaraja V. Raman (born 1932) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To place a man in a multi-stage rocket and project him into the controlling gravitational field of the moon where the passengers can make scientific observations, perhaps land alive, and then return to earth—all that constitutes a wild dream worthy of Jules Verne. I am bold enough to say that such a man-made voyage will never occur regardless of all future advances.”
Lee De Forest (1873–1961) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: De Forest Says Space Travel Is Impossible, Lewiston Morning Tribune via Associated Press, February 25, 1957
“It is the priests, not religion, [that] it is difficult for scientific men to live with... [S]cience cannot coexist with priest-craft.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The scientific man seeks truth as a continually developing revelation, and he changes his outlook on the world... as it unfolds itself before his eyes. The priest teaches that in some remote period... God... revealed Truth once and for all time, and his profession is to guard it against all comers.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What a scientific man conceives to be the truth is... distinct. He is not concerned.., not... greatly interested, in ultimate, absolute and unattainable truth. He frames a hypothesis and tests it in every possible way. So long as... fact is in accord with the hypothesis, and no other hypothesis is in accord.., it is all he seeks to know.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The idea that physical power is one of the attributes of deity, and the conception of an all-powerful being directing the universe and the physical affairs of men, has left behind it a legacy of nothing but calamity. According to the scientific definition of truth.., there is no such being.”
Frederick Soddy (1877–1956) said by 1956 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Second, I use inference from technical studies and theories in order to provide practical information for therapists. Those thoughts are several steps removed from scientific validity.”
Virgil Miller Newton (1938–2025) first seen 1995 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Miller Newton (1995). Adolescence: Guiding Youth Through the Perilous Ordeal. W.W. Norton and Company, NY, NY, pg 7.
“The ones who I train to become scientists go at it like the warriors they should be, overturning existing knowledge and reigning paradigms, each discovery a murder of their scientific ancestors. And if I have trained them well, I must derive whatever satisfaction I can from the inevitability of becoming their Oedipal target someday.”
Robert Sapolsky (born 1957) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every discovery takes place in more than a scientific context.”
Charles J. Pedersen (1904–1989) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: in his Nobel lecture, December 8, 1987.
“We don't want support for scientific research just to keep scientists busy: we want scientists to be looked upon by the public as people who can do things for them that they can't do themselves.”
John Cunningham McLennan (1867–1935) said by 1935 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: as quoted by Gordon Shrum. In an article by Robert Craig Brown, The life of Sir John Cunningham McLennan, Physics in Canada, March / April 2000.
“The principles of the theory of probabilities [cannot] serve to guide us in the election of... [scientific] hypotheses.”
George Boole (1815–1864) said by 1864 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: p. 375, as cited in: Lev D. Beklemishev (2000) Provability, Computability and Reflection, p. 432
“Most scientists today are devoid of ideas, full of fear, intent on producing some paltry result so that they can add to the flood of inane papers that now constitutes "scientific progress" in many areas.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The attitude of the Church was not as dogmatic as is often assumed. Interpretations of Bible passages had been revised in the light of scientific research before. Everyone regarded the earth as spherical and as freely floating in space though the Bible tells a different story.”
Paul Karl Feyerabend (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Secrecy is a compulsive reflex in this country. It strangles thought, delays scientific progress, and destroys integrity.”
Jack McDevitt (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With its claims to profundity, boldness and originality, thinking still limits itself provisionally to the exclusively rational and scientific. … As soon as it lays hold of the feelings, it becomes spirit.”
Robert Musil (1880–1942) said by 1942 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My early feeling that scientific truths are to the Christian religion much what brooks and rivers are to the ocean, has become my most vital conviction. Tempted as I was to drift with the tempest of passion, I had made shipwreck in these latter years, had not in my heaviest hours the Mercy of God, through your instrumentality, kept me always on the right path.”
Julius Robert von Mayer (1814–1878) first seen 1851 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: December 31 1851, as translated by Kneller, Karl Alois. 1911. pp. 18. Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science. London.
“You must learn to talk clearly. The jargon of scientific terminology which rolls off your tongues is mental garbage.”
Martin H. Fischer (1879–1962) first seen 1943 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Encore : A Continuing Anthology (December 1943) edited by Smith Dent, "Fischerisms" p. 709
“There are many portions of economical doctrine which appear to me as scientific in form as they are consonant with facts.”
William Stanley Jevons (1835–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Perhaps our ultimate understanding of scientific topics is measured in terms of our ability to generate metaphoric pictures of what is going on. Maybe understanding is coming up with metaphoric pictures.”
Per Bak (1948–2002) said by 2002 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not here concerned with intent, but with scientific standards, especially the ability to tell the difference between a fact, an opinion, a hypothesis, and a hole in the ground.”
Serge Lang (1927–2005) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: HIV and AIDS: Have We Been Misled?; Questions of Scientific and Journalistic Responsibility," Yale Scientific (Fall 1994), reprinted in Challenges (Springer, 1997, , p. 70
“Yes, the claim that sex in humans is not a binary is pretty much a lie, and is made on ideological rather than scientific grounds.”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) first seen 2020 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A defense of the binary in human sex" February 14, 2020
“How embarrassing is it, given the situation, that the SSE, the ASN, and the SSB got their biology wrong while the Trump administration got it right! But that’s what happens when scientific societies get ideologically captured.”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) first seen 2025 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The U.S. government’s new definition of sex" February 20, 2025
“If you can’t think of an observation that could disprove a theory, that theory simply isn’t scientific.”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Consider the attitude our great Vasile Conta held in the Chamber in 1879. Fifty years earlier the Romanian philosopher demonstrated with unshakeable scientific arguments, framed in a system of impeccable logic, the soundness of racial truths that must lie at the foundation of the national state...”
Corneliu Zelea Codreanu (1899–1938) said by 1938 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Today’s liberal intellectuals, who pride themselves on scientific method and being “broadminded," are the most narrow-minded, self-righteous and hate-filled bigots in the history of humanity. No primitive tribe worshiping with its witch-doctor was ever more vicious in its hatred and suppression of heretics than today’s Marxist intellectuals, anti-racists and liberals.”
George Lincoln Rockwell (1918–1967) said by 1967 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the “stealth era,” battlefield strength might just be dictated by the level of stealth or invisibility technology at the disposal of combatants. This is likely to trigger a scientific and technological race, as well as provide new platforms for countries to enhance their prestige domestically and internationally.”
Nayef Al-Rodhan (born 1959) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cloaks of Invisibility: The Latest Frontier in Military Technology - Georgetown Journal, March 2014
“It has been a long time since I believed in Reality. I prefer the loveliness and the terror of my subjective experiences to those coldly scientific explanations which in the long run turn out to be no more real, and far less fun, than my own fantasies and musings.”
Sheldon B. Kopp (1929–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Enthusiasm is the element of success in everything. It is the light that leads, and the strength that leads men on and up, in the great struggles of scientific pursuit, of professional labor. It robs endurance of difficulty and makes a pleasure of duty.”
William Croswell Doane (1832–1913) first seen 1881 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the Tenth Graduating Class" (1881), in Addresses to the Graduating Classes of St. Agnes School (New York: Thomas Whittaker, 1891), p. 121.
“Before the epidemic ended, it had almost de-populated this planet. Since the survivors knew nothing about germs, they blamed it on the anger of the gods—the old story of recourse to supernaturalism in the absence of a known explanation—and a fanatically anti-scientific cult got control.”
H. Beam Piper (1904–1964) said by 1964 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[A] reasoned negation of the Ten Commandments—the Golden Rule–the Sermon on the Mount—Republican Principles—Christian Principles—and "Principles" in general. It proclaims upon scientific evolutionary grounds, the unlimited absolutism of Might, and asserts that cut-and-dried moral codes are crude and immoral inventions, promotive of vice and vassalage.”
Arthur Desmond (1859–1929) first seen 1899 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Immorality as a Philosophic Principle - Nietzesche's Emotionalism. The Monist, Volume 9. 1899. p. 608.
“Consciousness,” according to current scientific thought, was something the higher mammals had evolved in order to help them reproduce, much the way a garden slug secretes slime. It had no special ontological status. The “self” was a genetically modulated and biologically useful illusion.”
Robert Charles Wilson (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They are doing that here in the United States. American scientific companies are crossbreeding humans and animals and are coming up with, with mice with fully functioning human brains.”
Christine O'Donnell (born 1969) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The economic and social theories used by those who take part in the social struggle ought to be judged not by their objective value but primarily for their effectiveness in arousing emotions. The scientific refutation of them which can be made is useless, however correct it may be objectively.”
Vilfredo Pareto (1848–1923) said by 1923 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In treating of the practical application of scientific principles, an algebraical formula should only be employed when its shortness and simplicity are such as to render it a clearer expression of a proposition or rule than common language would be, and when there is no difficulty in keeping the thing represented by each symbol constantly before the mind.”
William John Macquorn Rankine (1820–1872) said by 1872 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Social psychology is the scientific study of the obvious, which invariably leads to conflicting results.”
David Levy (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we ignore the facts contained in one part of the world, surely we are hampering scientific advance.”
Douglas Mawson (1882–1958) said by 1958 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Every historic period has had its Cassandras. Our era is the first in which prophecies of doom stem from objective scientific analyses.”
Bernard Lown (1921–2021) said by 2021 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source