Science
Louis Pasteur on Science
“There are no such things as applied sciences, only applications of science.” Louis Pasteur French biologist & bacteriologist (1822 – 1895)
Arthur C. Clarke on Science Fiction
“Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Richard Feynman on Science
“I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.” Richard Feynman US educator & physicist (1918 – 1988)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Science
“I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four, A Scandal in Bohemia British mystery author & physician (1859 – 1930)
Sir Arthur Eddington on the Universe
“Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.” Sir Arthur Eddington English astronomer (1882 – 1944)
William Gibson on Futurism
“The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet.” William Gibson US science fiction novelist in Canada (1948 – )
Omar N. Bradley on Technology and Wisdom
“If we continue to develop our technology without wisdom or prudence, our servant may prove to be our executioner.” Omar N. Bradley
Isaac Newton on Science
“I keep the subject of my inquiry constantly before me, and wait till the first dawning opens gradually, by little and little, into a full and clear light.” Isaac Newton English mathematician & physicist (1642 – 1727)
Emile Chartier on Ideas
“There are only two kinds of scholars; those who love ideas and those who hate them.” Emile Chartier
Albert Einstein on War
“The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Albert Einstein on Technology & Humanity
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” Albert Einstein
Arthur C. Clarke on Science
“If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says that it is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” Arthur C. Clarke English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Albert Einstein on Science
“The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.” Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 – 1955)
Arthur Koestler on Discovery
“The more original a discovery, the more obvious it seems afterwards.” Arthur Koestler British (Hungarian-born) author (1905 – 1983)
Isaac Asimov on Knowledge
“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.” Isaac Asimov US science fiction novelist & scholar (1920 – 1992)
L. Frank Baum on Imagination
“Imagination has brought mankind through the dark ages to its present state of civilization. Imagination led Columbus to discover America. Imagination led Franklin to discover electricity.” L. Frank Baum
Albert Einstein on Science & Religion
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein on Education
“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” Albert Einstein
Thomas A. Edison on Failure
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas A. Edison, (attributed) US inventor (1847 – 1931)
Albert Einstein on God & Science
“God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically.” Albert Einstein
Patrick Young on Weather
“The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it.” Patrick Young
Galileo Galilei on Science
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” Galileo Galilei Italian astronomer & physicist (1564 – 1642)
R. Buckminster Fuller on Science
“Everything you’ve learned in school as ‘obvious’ becomes less and less obvious as you begin to study the universe. For example, there are no solids in the universe. There’s not even a suggestion of a solid. There are no absolute continuums. There are no surfaces. There are no straight lines.” R. Buckminster Fuller US architect & engineer (1895 – 1983)
William S. Burroughs on Politics and Science Fiction
“After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say ‘I want to see the manager.’ “ William S. Burroughs US author (1914 – 1997)
Woody Allen on the Universe
“I’m astounded by people who want to ‘know’ the universe when it’s hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.” Woody Allen US movie actor, comedian, & director (1935 – )
Willie Tyler on Lightning
“The reason lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place is that the same place isn’t there the second time.” Willie Tyler
Edsger Dijkstra on Computers
“Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes.” Edsger Dijkstra
Pope John Paul II on Science and Faith
“Science can purify religion from error and superstition. Religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes.” Pope John Paul II
Albert Einstein on Solving Problems
“The world will not evolve past its current state of crisis by using the same thinking that created the situation.” Albert Einstein
John F. Kennedy on Politics
“The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were.” John F. Kennedy
William J. Broad on the Universe
“The crux… is that the vast majority of the mass of the universe seems to be missing.” William J. Broad
Nikola Tesla on Scientists
“The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite insane.” Nikola Tesla, Modern Mechanics and Inventions. July, 1934 US (Serbian-born) electrical inventor (1857 – 1943)
Paul Dirac on Science and Poetry
“In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.” Paul Dirac English physicist in US (1902 – 1984)
Albert Einstein on Mistakes
“A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein
Stephen Hawking on Science
“If human life were long enough to find the ultimate theory, everything would have been solved by previous generations. Nothing would be left to be discovered.” Stephen Hawking, Interview with The Guardian (UK) September 27, 2005 English cosmologist and physicist (1942 – )
Albert Einstein on Computers
“Computers are incredibly fast, accurate, and stupid; humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant; together they are powerful beyond imagination.” Albert Einstein
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“At the present rate of progress, it is almost impossible to imagine any technical feat that cannot be achieved – if it can be achieved at all – within the next few hundred years.” Arthur C. Clarke, 1983 English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Indira Gandhi on Science
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” Indira Gandhi
Niels Bohr on the Future
“Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future.” Niels Bohr Danish physicist (1885 – 1962)
Fred Hoyle Cynical Quote
“There is a coherent plan in the universe, though I don’t know what it’s a plan for.” Fred Hoyle English astronomer, mathematician, & popularizer of science (1915 – 2001)
Arthur C. Clarke on Technology
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” Arthur C. Clarke, “Technology and the Future” (Clarke’s second law) English physicist & science fiction author (1917 – 2008)
Ernest Rutherford on Science
“All science is either physics or stamp collecting.” Ernest Rutherford, in J. B. Birks “Rutherford at Manchester” (1962) British chemist & physicist (1871 – 1937)
George Bernard Shaw on Education
“A fool’s brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence University education.” George Bernard Shaw Irish dramatist & socialist (1856 – 1950)
Edward Teller on Science
“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 US (Hungarian-born) physicist (1908 – 2003)
Thomas H. Huxley on Science
“The great tragedy of Science – the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” Thomas H. Huxley English biologist (1825 – 1895)
Robert Heinlein on Progress
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.” Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love US science fiction author (1907 – 1988)
Robert Bakker on Taxes
“I want to find a voracious, small-minded predator and name it after the IRS.” Robert Bakker, paleontologist
John Sladek on the Future
“The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive.” John Sladek
Stephen Jay Gould on Science
“The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos.” Stephen Jay Gould US author, naturalist, paleontologist, & popularizer of science (1941 – 2002)
Bertrand Russell on Mathematics
“Mathematics, rightly viewed, possesses not only truth, but supreme beauty – a beauty cold and austere, like that of sculpture.” Bertrand Russell British author, mathematician, & philosopher (1872 – 1970)