Home / Quotes / Quote by Charles Darwin

Quote by Charles Darwin

“I have long discovered that geologists never read each other's works, and that the only object in writing a book is a proof of earnestness.”

Quote by Charles Darwin

Book:The Correspondence of Charles Darwin

Work

The Correspondence of Charles Darwin

The Correspondence of Charles Darwin presents a detailed look at the renowned naturalist's extensive correspondence, providing a unique perspective on his scientific journey and the development of his theories on evolution. more

Author

Charles Darwin, a British naturalist, is renowned as the founder of evolutionary biology. Born on February 12, 1809, in England, he passed away on April 19, 1882. Darwin is best known for his research on the theory of evolution, which proposed that species evolve through natural selection and survival of the fittest. more

You May Also Like

“The average student emerges at the end of the Ph.D. program, already middle-aged, overspecialized, poorly prepared for the world outside, and almost unemployable except in a narrow area of specialization. Large numbers of students for whom the program is inappropriate are trapped in it, because the Ph.D. has become a union card required for entry into the scientific job market.”

World Ends Jobs Numbers Middle Students Areas Program Unions Prepared Average Cards Trapped Entry Large Numbers Inappropriate Middle Aged Specialization

Author:Freeman Dyson

“Einstein was attending a music salon in Germany before the second world war, with the violinist S. Suzuki. Two Japanese women played a German piece of music and a woman in the audience exclaimed: "How wonderful! It sounds so German!" Einstein responded: "Madam, people are all the same."”

People World Two War Sound Audience Pieces Wonderful War Of The Worlds Germany Second World War Attending Violinist Salons

Author:Albert Einstein

“Children and scientists share an outlook on life. If I do this, what will happen? is both the motto of the child at play and the defining refrain of the physical scientist. ... The unfamiliar and the strange - these are the domain of all children and scientists.”

Ifs Children Play Happens Share Strange Scientist Motto Outlook Domain Defining Refrain Unfamiliar Outlook On Life

Book:Genius: the life and science of Richard Feynman

Source: Genius: the life and science of Richard Feynman

“When I talk about the pain and hardship of a scientist's life, I'm speaking of more than existential angst. Galileo's work was condemned by the Church; Madame Curie paid with her life, a victim of leukemia wrought by radiation poisoning. Too many of us develop cataracts. None of us gets enough sleep. Most of what we know about the universe we know thanks to a lot of guys (and ladies) who stayed up late at night.”

Source: The God Particle: If the Universe is the Answer, what is the Question?

“A scientist's life, the author says, is indeed conflictual, formed by battles, defeats, and victories: but the adversary is always and only the unknown, the problem to be solved, the mystery to be clarified. It is never a matter of civil war; even though of different opinions, or of different political leanings, scientists dispute each other, they compete, but they do not battle: they are bound together by a strong alliance, by the common faith "in the validity of Maxwell's or Boltzmann's equations," and by the common acceptance of Darwinism and the molecular structure of DNA.”

“Scientists are entitled to be proud of their accomplishments, and what accomplishments can they call 'theirs' except the things they have done or thought of first? People who criticize scientists for wanting to enjoy the satisfaction of intellectual ownership are confusing possessiveness with pride of possession. Meanness, secretiveness and, sharp practice are as much despised by scientists as by other decent people in the world of ordinary everyday affairs; nor, in my experience, is generosity less common among them, or less highly esteemed.”

“When you believe you have found an important scientific fact, and are feverishly curious to publish it, constrain yourself for days, weeks, years sometimes, fight yourself, try and ruin your own experiments, and only proclaim your discovery after having exhausted all contrary hypotheses. But when, after so many efforts you have at last arrived at a certainty, your joy is one of the greatest which can be felt by a human soul.”

“The scientist does not defy the universe. He accepts it. It is his dish to savor, his realm to explore; it is his adventure and never-ending delight. It is complaisant and elusive but never dull. It is wonderful both in the small and in the large. In short, its exploration is the highest occupation for a gentleman.”

Doe Universe Accepting Wonderful Adventure Highest Scientist Delight Gentleman Realms Dull Exploration Occupation Dishes Elusive Never Ending

Book:Science: the center of culture

Source: Science: the center of culture

“It makes no sense to complain about a lack of imagination in scientists when their failure is simply that they cannot make the world be what it is not, and they cannot make the world do what it cannot do.”

World Imagination Scientist Complaining

Book:The Science Gap: Dispelling the Myths and Understanding the Reality of Science

Source: The Science Gap: Dispelling the Myths and Understanding the Reality of Science

“Great question in science - questions like the ones Herschel raised about the structure of the universe - are seldom answered by ivory-tower types engaging in pure thought. They are answered by people who are willing to get down into the trenches and grapple with nature. If that means casting your own telescope mirrors, as Herschel did, so be it.”

People Ifs Mean Universe Willing Type Pure Mirrors Structure Raised Towers Engaging Casting Telescopes Ivory Trenches Ivory Tower

Author:James Trefil