Scientist

Explore 194 quotes by Scientists

Males do not represent two discrete populations, heterosexual and homosexual. The world is not to be divided into sheep and goats. Not all things are black nor all things white. It is a fundamental of taxonomy that nature rarely deals with discrete categories. Only the human mind invents categories and tries to force facts into separated pigeon-holes. The living world is a continuum in each and every one of its aspects. The sooner we learn this concerning human sexual behavior the sooner we shall reach a sound understanding of the realities of sex.

Alfred C. Kinsey

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

More information about this quote

Topic

Sexuality

Author

Alfred C. Kinsey

Source

Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

Language

English

Time

1948 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Kinsey, Alfred C. Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. W. B. Saunders Co., 1948, ch. 21.

I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin

Electrical Units of Measurement

More information about this quote

Topic

Knowledge

Speaker

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin

Source

Electrical Units of Measurement

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1883 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Thomson, William. "Electrical Units of Measurement." 3 May 1883, Institute of Civil Engineers, London, England, UK. Lecture.

The Creator, if He exists, has a special preference for beetles.

J.B.S. Haldane

Reflection on the fact that there are 400,000 species of beetles, as opposed to 8,000 species of mammals.

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Topic

Nature of God God and nature

Speaker

J.B.S. Haldane

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1951 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Haldane, J. B. S. Speech given to the British Interplanetary Society. 1951, London, England, UK.

Although we are mere sojourners on the surface of the planet, chained to a mere point in space, enduring but for a moment of time, the human mind is not only enabled to number worlds beyond the unassisted ken of mortal eye, but to trace the events of indefinite ages before the creation of our race, and is not even withheld from penetrating into the dark secrets of the ocean, or the interior of the solid globe.

Charles Lyell

Principles of Geology

More information about this quote

Topic

Scientific progress

Author

Charles Lyell

Source

Principles of Geology

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1830 1830s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Lyell, Charles, Sir. Principles of Geology: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation. Vol. 1, London: John Murray, 1830.

I am much occupied with the investigation of physical causes. My aim in this is to show that the celestial machine is not similar to a divine animated being, but similar to a clock.

Johannes Kepler

More information about this quote

Topic

The laws of physics The universe

Author

Johannes Kepler

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1605 1600s 17th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Kepler, Johannes. Letter to Herwart von Hohenbury. 10 Feb. 1605.

The best evidence we have that time travel is not possible, and never will be, is that we have not been invaded by hordes of tourists from the future.

Stephen Hawking

More information about this quote

Topic

Time travel

Speaker

Stephen Hawking

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1991 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hawking, Stephen. "The Future of the Universe." Jan. 1991, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, UK. Lecture.

Thought is only a gleam in the midst of a long night. But it is this gleam which is everything.

Henri Poincaré

The Value of Science

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Topic

Power of thought

Author

Henri Poincaré

Source

The Value of Science

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

French

Time

1905 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Poincare, Henri. Valeur de la Science [The Value of Science]. Flammarion, 1904, ch. 11.

Current Citation

Poincare, Henri. The Value of Science: Essential Writings of Henri Poincare, edited by Stephen Jay Gould. Random House Publishing Group, 2001.

Would it be too bold to imagine, that in the great length of time, since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the comencement of the history of mankind, would it be too bold to imagine, that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament which the Great First Cause endured with animality... And thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down those improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!

Erasmus Darwin

Zoonomia

More information about this quote

Topic

Evolution

Author

Erasmus Darwin

Source

Zoonomia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1794 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Darwin, Erasmus. Zoonomia; or the Laws of Organic Life. Vol. 1, London: Joseph Johnson, 1794, sec. 39.

Soon shall thy arm, unconquere'd steam! afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;
Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear
The flying-chariot through the fields of air.

Erasmus Darwin

The Botanic Garden

More information about this quote

Topic

Technological progress

Author

Erasmus Darwin

Source

The Botanic Garden

Medium

Poem

Statement Type

Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1791 1790s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Darwin, Erasmus. The Botanic Garden. London: Joseph Johnson, 1791, pt. 1.

Man appears to be the missing link between anthropoid apes and human beings.

Konrad Lorenz

More information about this quote

Topic

Man and animals

Speaker

Konrad Lorenz

Language

English

Time

1965 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Lorenz, Konrad. Quoted in New York Times Magazine. 11 Apr. 1965.

Since the measuring device has been constructed by the observer... We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning.

Werner Heisenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Nature of science

Speaker

Werner Heisenberg

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1956 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Heisenberg, Werner. Lecture about the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory. Gifford Lectures. 1955-1956, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland.

Current Citation

Heisenberg, Werner. "The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory." Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2007.

It is useful to distinguish among four factors which give importance, urgency, and inevitability to the advancement of space technology. The first of these factors is the compelling urge of man to explore and to discover, the thrust of curiosity that leads men to try to go where no one has gone before.

James R. Killian

More information about this quote

Topic

Space travel Curiosity Human nature

Speaker

James R. Killian

Source

Introduction to Outer Space

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Killian, James R. "Introduction to Outer Space." Project Mercury: Man-in-space Program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. U.S. Government Printing Office, 1959. Originally a speech given on 26 Mar. 1958. The White House, Washington, DC, USA.

Picture a pasture open to all... The rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another... But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit-in a world that is limited.

Garrett Hardin

The Tragedy of the Commons

More information about this quote

Topic

Tragedy of the commons

Author

Garrett Hardin

Source

The Tragedy of the Commons

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hardin, Garrett. "The Tragedy of the Commons." Science Magazine, 13 Dec. 1968.

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

Robert Jastrow

God and the Astronomers

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Topic

Science and religion

Author

Robert Jastrow

Source

God and the Astronomers

Genre

Religious literature Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1978 1970s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Jastrow, Robert. God and the Astronomers. W. W. Norton & Company, 1978, ch. 9.

The shield may be as important for victory, as the sword or spear.

Charles Darwin

On the Origin of Species

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Read On the Origin of the Species at Project Gutenberg

More information about this quote

Topic

Survival Natural selection

Author

Charles Darwin

Source

On the Origin of Species

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1859 1850s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of the Species. London: John Murray, 1859, ch. 4.

Current Citation

Darwin, Charles. The Origin of the Species, edited by William Bynum. Penguin, 2009, ch. 4.

The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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More information about this quote

Topic

Newton's laws of motion Laws of physics

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 2.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 2.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.

Albert Einstein

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More information about this quote

Topic

Life Bicycles Momentum Idleness

Author

Albert Einstein

Source

Letters of Albert Einstein

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Einstein, Albert. "Letter to his son Eduard." Quoted in Einstein: His Life and Universe, by Walter Isaacson. Simon & Schuster, 2007. Originally from Letter to his Son Eduard, 5 Feb. 1930.

Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

Authority Deference Rebellion

Author

Albert Einstein

Source

Letters of Albert Einstein

Medium

Letter

Language

German

Time

1901 1900s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Citation

Einstein, Albert. "To Jost Winteler." The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, vol. 1: The Early Years, 1879-1902, English Translation Supplement, translated by Anna Beck. Princeton University Press, 1987, no. 115. Originally from Letter to Jost Winteler, 8 July 1901.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

The mysterious Awe Wonder Creativity

Author

Albert Einstein

Source

What I Believe. Living Philosophies 13 Forum and Century

Medium

Essay Magazine

Language

German

Time

1930 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Einstein, Albert. "What I Believe. Living Philosophies 13." Forum and Century, Oct. 1930, vol. 84, issue 4, pp. 193-194.

The great end of life is not knowledge but action.

T.H. Huxley

More information about this quote

Topic

Taking action

Speaker

T.H. Huxley

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1877 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Huxley, Thomas Henry. "Technical Education." Working Men's Club and Institute Union meeting. 1 Dec. 1877, London, England, UK.