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Quote by John Stuart Mill

“The process of tracing regularity in any complicated, and at first sight confused, set of appearances, is necessarily tentative; we begin by making any supposition, even a false one, to see what consequences will follow from it ; and by observing how these differ from the real phenomena, we learn what corrections to make in our assumption.”

Book:A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, Being a Connected View of the Principles, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation

Work

A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive, Being a Connected View of the Principles, and the Methods of Scientific Investigation

Written by a renowned philosopher, this work delves into the intricacies of logical reasoning, providing a detailed analysis of inductive and deductive methods. It serves as a foundational text for understanding the principles that underpin scientific investigation and critical thinking. more

Author

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was an influential British philosopher, economist, and logician. He is one of the most important figures in 19th-century philosophy and his ideas had a profound impact on political, social, and philosophical thought of the time. more

“The sciences do not try to explain, they hardly even try to interpret, they mainly make models. By a model is meant a mathematical construct which, with the addition of certain verbal interpretations, describes observed phenomena. The justification of such a mathematical construct is solely and precisely that it is expected to work-that is, correctly to describe phenomena from a reasonably wide area.”

Trying Science Certain Models Evidence Areas Accounts Mathematics Wide Expected Observation Mathematical Interpretation Justification Constructs Mathematical Models

Book:The Neumann Compendium

Source: The Neumann Compendium

“The significance of a fact is relative to [the general body of scientific] knowledge. To say that a fact is significant in science, is to say that it helps to establish or refute some general law; for science, though it starts from observation of the particular, is not concerned essentially with the particular, but with the general. A fact, in science, is not a mere fact, but an instance. In this the scientist differs from the artist, who, if he deigns to notice facts at all, is likely to notice them in all their particularity.”

Ifs Art Facts Helping Body Law Science Artist Knowledge Particular Concerned Scientist Mere Significant Instance Observation Significance Relative Scientific Knowledge

Author:Bertrand Russell

“The truth is, the Science of Nature has been already too long made only a work of the Brain and the Fancy: It is now high time that it should return to the plainness and soundness of Observations on material and obvious things.”

Should Long Has Beens Made Science Time Nature Brain Materials Return Truth Is Accounts Obvious Observation Fancy Obvious Things Soundness Plainness

Book:Extracts from Micrographia: Or, Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon

Source: Extracts from Micrographia: Or, Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made by Magnifying Glasses with Observations and Inquiries Thereupon

“Theory and fact are equally strong and utterly interdependent; one has no meaning without the other. We need theory to organize and interpret facts, even to know what we can or might observe. And we need facts to validate theories and give them substance.”

Knows Needs Giving Facts Might Science Strong Theory Observation Substance Organize

Book:Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms

Source: Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms

“Any man is liable to err, only a fool persists in error.”

Men Fool Philosophical Errors Persist Liable

Author:Marcus Tullius Cicero

“To consider the matter aright, reason is nothing but a wonderful and unintelligible instinct in our souls, which carries us along a certain train of ideas, and endows them with particular qualities, according to their particular situations and relations. This instinct, 'tis true, arises from past observation and experience; but can anyone give the ultimate reason, why past experience and observation produces such an effect, any more than why nature alone should produce it?”