“I felt I was moving among two groups [literary intellectuals and scientists] comparable in intelligence, identical in race, not grossly different in social origin, earning about the same incomes, who had almost ceased to communicate at all, who in intellectual, moral and psychological climate had so little in common that instead of going from Burlington Hom or South Kensington to Chelsea, one might have crossed an ocean.” LittlesTwoDifferentMightMovingScienceSocialFeltCommonRaceMoralGroupsSocietyOceanIntellectualScientistSouthClimateCommunicateIncomePsychologicalEarningIdenticalChelsea Author:C.P. Snow
“English stupidity is an organism so primitive that it is apparently impossible to kill off. It reminds me of Physarum Polycephalum, the gigantic slime mould recently bred by scientists at Bonn. Bright yellow and about two millimetres thick, this monocellular creature--neither plant nor animal--grew to a size of 10 square yards before the scientists took fright and froze it. It can smell its favourite food, and move towards it at a speed of up to two centimetres an hour. This favourite food is porridge.” TwoMovingHoursAnimalImpossibleGrewCreaturesScientistPlantSizeSmellStupiditySpeedSquaresYellowThickFavouritePrimitiveOrganismsYardsFrightMouldSlimePorridge Author:Neal Ascherson
“But weightier still are the contentment which comes from work well done, the sense of the value of science for its own sake, insatiable curiosity, and, above all, the pleasure of masterly performance and of the chase. These are the effective forces which move the scientist. The first condition for the progress of science is to bring them into play.” FirstsWellsStillsDonePlayMovingScienceValuesForcePleasureProgressConditionsPerformancesScientistCuriositySakeMotiveContentmentWell DoneInsatiableWork Well Done Author:Lawrence Joseph Henderson
“One reason citizens, politicians and university donors sometimes lack confidence in the social sciences is that social scientists too often miss the chance to declare victory and move on to new frontiers.” SometimesReasonMovingSocialChanceMissingVictoryCitizensPoliticianScientistUniversityFrontiersSocial ScienceDonorsNew Frontiers Author:Nicholas A. Christakis