Quote: at any given moment, out of all conceivable constructions, a single system of theoretical physics has always proved itself decidedly superior; a pre-established harmony [»einsA_1934]

Quote: a scientific paradigm ends debate about fundamentals and encourages scientists to pursue more precise, esoteric, and consuming sorts of work [»kuhnTS_1970]

Quote: Descartes found a road to truth and asked others to join so that we might together advance further than a single individual could alone [»descR_1637]

Quote: normal science is research based on past achievements and taught through textbooks [»kuhnTS_1970]

Quote: a scientific program encourages work on its positive heuristics rather than on anomalies; hopefully, anomalies will disappear [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: a mature science has a research program that anticipates novel auxiliary theories; it has heuristic power and avoids trial-and-error [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: a dominant theory is one with perfectly known terms and infallible inferences; incorporating other, non-Euclidean theories enriches their development [»lakaI_1976]

Quote: despite the edict against the opinion that the earth moves, Galileo sided with the Copernican view and showed that it was superior [»galiG_1632]

Quote: the refereed, scientific journal is the hallmark of a new scientific discipline; piecemeal publication of the results of detailed researches; scientific method [»zimaJM_1968]

Quote: the greatest heritage of the chemical profession is the literature; but its size, growth, and complexity is endangering its role [»skolH_1963]

Quote: scientific literature is memory, continually rewritten; on how to think about a subject [»zimaJM_1968]

Quote: the Lincean Academy was the first scientific society of lasting significance; kept Galileo informed; coined 'telescope' [»drakS_1980]

Quote: science is a battleground of research programs rather than isolated theories; some dogmatism is rational [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: science is not based on instant rationality and learning, even though it is presented as such [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: two world views: the heavens are incorruptible and inalterable while the earth is corruptible and alterable, or the earth is a moving body like the moon and planets [»galiG_1632]

Quote: the celestial bodies are generable and corruptible like the earth; e.g., sun spots and the mountains on the moon as shown by the telescope [»galiG_1632]

Quote: a real science is about mental contents standing for things; e.g., 'all fire is warming' because 'warming' is a mental content common to every fire [»ockhW_1310]

Quote: whenever defects are seen in the foundations, it is reasonable to doubt everything else that is built upon them [»galiG_1632]

Quote: need to establish new basic principles because Aristotle's views present many and grave difficulties

Quote: science is the belief in the ignorance of experts; the greatest teachers of preceding generations are not infallible; need balance [»feynRP9_1969]

Quote: relying on the authority of Aristotle despite contradictory experience is like making an oracle out of a log of wood; e.g., nerves originating in the heart [»galiG_1632]

Quote: a theory of consciousness or biology could conflict with accepted principles of physics [»wignEP2_1960]

Quote: relatively few experiments are really important in a scientific program; testing is not important to theoretical physicists [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: science does not proceed by crucial experiments that instantly overthrow a research program; crucial experiments only after the fact [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: the importance of the Michelson-Morley experiment was not seen for 25 years; they thought it supported Stoke's ether theory [»lakaI_1970]

Quote: Einstein was unaware of Michelson, Fitzgerald and Lorentz; stimulated primarily by Mach's criticism of Newtonian mechanics

Quote: Copernicus saw as counterinstances what Ptolemy's successors saw as puzzles in the match between experience and theory [»kuhnTS_1970]

Quote: we live in the age that is discovering the fundamental laws of nature; but you only discover them once and the excitement will go away [»feynR_1965]

Quote: the vigorous philosophy and attention to detail of science may disappear; a degeneration of ideas [»feynR_1965]

Quote: science can not keep on going; either all the laws will be known or experiments will become too hard and expensive to perform [»feynR_1965]