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Quote by Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle

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Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle
Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle

Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle was a French author known for his works in philosophy, literature, and science. Born on February 11, 1657, and passing away on January 9, 1757, he was a prominent figure in the Enlightenment era. His writings often explored the intersection of science and religion, and he is best known for his popularization of scientific ideas. more

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“We know enough to be sure that the scientific achievements of the next fifty years will be far greater, more rapid, and more surprising, than those we have already experienced. ... Wireless telephones and television, following naturally upon the their present path of development, would enable their owner to connect up to any room similarly equipped and hear and take part in the conversation as well as if he put his head in through the window.”

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Author:Winston Churchill
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“During the first half of the present century we had an Alexander von Humboldt, who was able to scan the scientific knowledge of his time in its details, and to bring it within one vast generalization. At the present juncture, it is obviously very doubtful whether this task could be accomplished in a similar way, even by a mind with gifts so peculiarly suited for the purpose as Humboldt's was, and if all his time and work were devoted to the purpose.”

IfsKnowsWayMindFirstsAbleSciencePurposeHalfKnowledgeCenturyTasksDetailsAccomplishedDevotedDoubtfulGeneralizationScientific KnowledgeJuncture
Author:Hermann von Helmholtz
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“The scientist is not much given to talking of the riddle of the universe. "Riddle" is not a scientific term. The conception of a riddle is "something which can he solved." And hence the scientist does not use that popular phrase. We don't know the why of anything. On that matter we are no further advanced than was the cavedweller. The scientist is contented if he can contribute something toward the knowledge of what is and how it is.”

IfsKnowsDoeMatterUseScienceUniverseGivenTermTalkingKnowledgeScientistPhrasesConceptionRiddle
Author:Charles Proteus Steinmetz
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“While the dogmatist is harmful, the sceptic is useless ...; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or of ignorance. Knowledge is not so precise a concept as is commonly thought. Instead of saying 'I know this', we ought to say 'I more or less know something more or less like this'. ... Knowledge in practical affairs has not the certainty or the precision of arithmetic.”

KnowsShouldPhilosophyScienceCertainKnowledgeKnowingIgnoranceOughtConceptsAffairPracticalsCertaintyUselessNot KnowingPrecisePrecisionArithmeticSceptic
Author:Bertrand Russell
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