“The whole structure of science gradually grows, but only as it is built upon a firm foundation of past research.” WholePastGrowsResearchBuiltFoundationStructureFirmFirm Foundation Author:Owen Chamberlain
“Historical science is not worse, more restricted, or less capable of achieving firm conclusions because experiment, prediction, and subsumption under invariant laws of nature do not represent its usual working methods. The sciences of history use a different mode of explanation, rooted in the comparative and observational richness in our data. We cannot see a past event directly, but science is usually based on inference, not unvarnished observation (you don't see electrons, gravity, or black holes either).” DifferentUsePastLawBlackAchieveEventsCapableMethodExperimentsHolesConclusionObservationDataFirmExplanationUsualGravityRootedPredictionsLaws Of NatureRichnessBlack HoleElectronsInferencePast Events Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“Never, I say, had a country so many openings to happiness as this.... Her cause was good. Her principles just and liberal. Her temper serene and firm.... The remembrance then of what is past, if it operates rightly must inspire her with the most laudable of an ambition, that of adding to the fair fame she began with. The world has seen her great adversity.... Let then, the world see that she can bear prosperity; and that her honest virtue in time of peace is equal to the bravest virtue in time of war.” IfsWorldWarCountryAmericaPastCausesPrinciplesVirtueHonestInspireBearsFameEqualAmbitionFairsAdversityProsperityOpeningFirmTemperRemembranceSerene Author:Thomas Paine