Quotes About Science

The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalize false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.

Theology is the mistress-science, without which the whole educational structure will necessarily lack its final synthesis.

Men of science spend much time and effort in the attempt to disentangle words from their metaphorical and traditional associations;

The only ethical principle which has made science possible is that the truth shall be told all the time. If we do not penalise false statements made in error, we open up the way for false statements by intention. And a false statement of fact, made deliberately, is the most serious crime a scientist can commit.

Q: What's the difference between an enzyme and a hormone? A: You can't hear an enzyme.

race was presumed to be an essential biological category. This is not a happy-ending tale of science overcoming racism.

See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.

I'm a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.

What does it matter? Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I'd far rather be happy than right any day.

It [Darwin's theory of evolution] was a concept of such stunning simplicity, but it gave rise, naturally, to all of the infinite and baffling complexity of life. The awe it inspired in me made the awe that people talk about in respect of religious experience seem, frankly, silly beside it. I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day.

Many respectable physicists said that they weren't going to stand for this -- partly because it was a debasement of science, but mostly because they didn't get invited to those sort of parties.

What is this? Some sort of galactic hyperhearse?

There was an accident with a contraceptive and a time machine. Now concentrate!

Several billion trillion tons of superhot exploding hydrogen nuclei rose slowly above the horizon and managed to look small, cold and slightly damp.

As if relationships between people were susceptible to the same laws that governed the relationships between atoms and molecules.

Same as you, Arthur. I hitched a ride. After all, with a degree in maths and another in astrophysics it was either that or back to the dole queue on Monday. Sorry I missed the Wednesday lunch date, but I was in a black hole all morning.

Look, why don't you sit yourself down over there and let me plug you in?" He gestured Arthur toward a chair which looked as if it had been made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus. "It was made out of the rib cage of a stegosaurus," explained the old man

It's only half completed, I'm afraid – we haven't even finished burying the artificial dinosaur skeletons in the crust yet

Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I'd far rather be happy than right any day.' 'And are you?' 'No. That's where it all falls down, of course.' 'Pity,' said Arthur with sympathy. 'It sounded like quite a good lifestyle otherwise.

Science has achieved some wonderful things, of course, but I'd far rather be happy than right any day.

I'm a scientist and I know what constitutes proof. But the reason I call myself by my childhood name is to remind myself that a scientist must also be absolutely like a child. If he sees a thing, he must say that he sees it, whether it was what he thought he was going to see or not. See first, think later, then test. But always see first. Otherwise you will only see what you were expecting. Most scientists forget that.

If I were not an atheist, I think I would have to be a Catholic because if it wasn't the forces of natural selection that designed fish, it must have been an Italian. I

The scientists chaps had been very insistent that everything was going to be perfectly all right providing nobody panicked and everybody got on and did their bit in an orderly fashion.

First, it is slightly cheaper; and second, it has the words DON'T PANIC inscribed in large friendly letters on its cover.