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Physical Science Quotes

Browse 103 quotes about Physical Science.

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Physical Science Quotes

“This irrelevance of molecular arrangements for macroscopic results has given rise to the tendency to confine physics and chemistry to the study of homogeneous systems as well as homogeneous classes. In statistical mechanics a great deal of labor is in fact spent on showing that homogeneous systems and homogeneous classes are closely related and to a considerable extent interchangeable concepts of theoretical analysis (Gibbs theory). Naturally, this is not an accident. The methods of physics and chemistry are ideally suited for dealing with homogeneous classes with their interchangeable components. But experience shows that the objects of biology are radically inhomogeneous both as systems (structurally) and as classes (generically). Therefore, the method of biology and, consequently, its results will differ widely from the method and results of physical science.”

ScienceLaborPhysicsBiologyChemistryPhysical ScienceIrrelevanceWillard GibbsGibbsJosiah Willard GibbsJosiah GibbsStatistical MechanicsTheoretical Analysis
Book:Atom and Organism: A New Aproach to Theoretical Biology
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“[T]his progress of the physical sciences, which the passions and interest do not interfere to disturb; wherein it is not thought that birth, profession, or appointment have given a right to judge what the individual is not in a situation to understand; this more certain progress cannot be observed, unless enlightened men shall search in the other sciences to bring them continually together. This progress at every step exhibits the model they ought to follow; according to which they may form a judgment of their own efforts, ascertain the false steps they may have taken, preserve themselves from pyrrhonism as well as credulity, and from a blind mistrust or too extensive submission to the authorities even of men of reputation and knowledge.”

Physical Science
Book:Outlines Of An Historical View Of The Progress Of The Human Mind
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“There are occasions, however, when even S holds a secret delight or two in the form of a pink, such as the one I found among the citations (or "cits" for short) for "sex kitten": sex kitten sex pot There is no essential difference in these defs [definitions], but they're not the same. Some differentiation shd be made. The pink was written by one of our former physical science editors infamous for commenting as brusquely as possible on things beyond his remit... Another one of our science editors who was reviewing the batch later was apparently irritated by this note, and decided to comment on what he no doubt saw as needless meddling. His typewritten response to the note about "sex kitten" reads, "I will no doubt regret saying this but I think you have misconstrued the meaning of 'physical' science somewhere along here." But a pink's a pink. Steve acted on it for the Tenth, adding the word "young" to the definition for "sex kitten.”

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Book:Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
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“In an information economy, entrepreneurs master the science of information in order to overcome the laws of the purely physical sciences. They can succeed because of the surprising power of the laws of information, which are conducive to human creativity. The central concept of information theory is a measure of freedom of choice. The principle of matter, on the other hand, is not liberty but limitation- it has weight and occupies space.”

HumansMatterHandsLawOrderChoicesSpaceLibertyPrinciplesCreativityEconomyInformationMastersTheorySucceedConceptsEconomicsOvercomingWeightEntrepreneurLimitationSurprisingFreedom Of ChoicePhysical Science
Book:Knowledge and Power: The Information Theory of Capitalism and How it is Revolutionizing our World
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“But however mysterious is nature , however ignorant the doctor, however imperfect the present state of physical science , the patronage and the success of quacks and quackeries are infinitely more wonderful than those of honest and laborious men of science and their careful experiments.”

MenStatesWonderfulHonestDoctorsCarefulExperimentsIgnorantMysteriousImperfectPhysical ScienceQuacksPatronageQuackery
Book:THE HUMBUGS OF THE WORLD
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“The chief point we must remember is that the great and rapid advance of the physical sciences took place in fields where it proved that explanation and prediction could be based on laws which accounted for the observed phenomena as functions of comparatively few variables - either particular facts or relative frequencies of events.”

FactsRememberLawEventsFieldsParticularFunctionChiefsExplanationRelativePredictionsRapidsFrequencyVariablesPhysical Science
Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
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“John Marks Templeton has achieved exemplary success in both business and philanthropy. For Looking Forward he has assembled a diverse and remarkable group of experts in their fields-including the environment, medicine, the physical sciences, religion, the family, and international relations-and contributed two stellar pieces as well. Together these essays dispel fashionable pessimism and show how the world can progress-and is progressing-toward a better future.”

WorldWellsTwoShowsTogetherEnvironmentPiecesProgressGroupsFieldsMarkRelationMedicineIncludingInternationalExpertsRemarkablePessimismDiversePhilanthropyEssaysLooking ForwardFashionableInternational RelationsBetter FutureScience ReligionPhysical ScienceExemplaryStellar
Author:Rupert Murdoch
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“An enormous amount of modern ingenuity is expended on finding defences for the indefensible conduct of the powerful. As I have said above, these defences generally exhibit themselves most emphatically in the form of appeals to physical science. And of all the forms in which science, or pseudo-science, has come to the rescue of the rich and stupid, there is none so singular as the singular invention of the theory of races.”

SaidFormPowerfulRaceRichModernStupidTheoryAmountFindingsEnormousInventionAppealsRescueDefenceExhibitsIngenuityPseudoPhysical Science
Book:The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton
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“If one might wish for impossibilities, I might then wish that my children might be well versed in physical science, but in due subordination to the fulness and freshness of their knowledge on moral subjects. ... Rather than have it the principal thing in my son's mind, I would gladly have him think that the sun went round the earth, and that the stars were so many spangles set in the bright blue firmament.”

IfsThinkingMindWellsChildrenMightEarthScienceWishStarsMoralSunSubjectsSonBlueRoundsDuesMy ChildrenMy SonPrincipalImpossibilityFreshnessPhysical ScienceFirmamentSubordination
Author:Tom Arnold
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“The words 'theory' and 'practice' are of Greek origin; they carry our thoughts back to the ancient philosophers by whom they were contrived, and by whom they were also contrasted and placed in opposition, as denoting two mutually conflicting and mutually inconsistent ideas. ... [this fallacy] based on a double system of natural laws retarded for centuries the development of physical science, notably mechanics.”

TwoIdeasLawNaturalPracticeCenturyTheoryDevelopmentAncientPhilosopherGreekOppositionOur ThoughtsMechanicFallacyNatural LawInconsistentRetardedPhysical ScienceTheory And Practice
Author:William John Macquorn Rankine
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“In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..."”

KnowsHappensScienceReligionChangePositionEvidenceArgumentScientistPainfulPhysicsSkepticismMistakenDnaScience And ReligionSkepticalSkepticScience And TechnologyArt And ScienceScientific MethodModern SciencePhilosophy Of ScienceNatural ScienceScience ReligionPhysical ScienceScientific TruthGreat ScienceScientific FactsScience PhysicsGod And SciencePale Blue DotScientific EvidenceGood ScienceSubtle AtheistScience LoveTheoretical PhysicsBest ScienceDiscovery In ScienceAdvances In ScienceNuclear Arms RaceInformation ScienceProgress In ScienceScientist LifeScience BooksEarth ScienceAdvancement Of ScienceFuture ScienceAtomic StructureScience FairImportance Of Science
Author:Carl Sagan
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“The social sciences, like much of biology but unlike most fields of the physical sciences, have to deal with structures of essential complexity, i.e. with structures whose characteristic properties can be exhibited only by models made up of relatively large numbers of variables.”

MadeSocialDealsNumbersFieldsEssentialsModelsStructurePropertyCharacteristicsComplexityBiologyLarge NumbersVariablesSocial SciencePhysical Science
Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
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“The theory that gravitational attraction is inversely proportional to the square of the distance leads by remorseless logic to the conclusion that the path of a planet should be an ellipse .... It is this logical thinking that is the real meat of the physical sciences. The social scientist keeps the skin and throws away the meat.... His theorems no more follow from his postulates than the hunches of a horse player follow logically from the latest racing news. The result is guesswork clad in long flowing robes of gobbledygook.”

ThinkingShouldLongRealScienceSocialResultsPathPlayerPlanetsTheoryNewsLogicSkinsScientistHorseDistanceAttractionConclusionMeatLogicalRacingSquaresRobesTheoremsLogical ThinkingHunchesPhysical ScienceRemorselessGuesswork
Author:Anthony Standen
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“About 70% of what I've written about is centered on the clashes and conformities between the emerging life and physical sciences and older metaphysical frameworks in the 17th and 18th centuries. The other 30% consists of one-off essays or researches into other intriguing contemporary topics such as visual experience, aesthetics, social justice issues, and the epistemology of moral knowledge.”

SocialJusticeMoralIssuesWrittenCenturyResearchSocial JusticeContemporaryVisualsConformityTopicsMetaphysicalEssaysFrameworkAestheticsEmergingClashIntriguingEpistemology18th CenturyPhysical Science
Author:Catherine Wilson
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“The changes that we can make in the culture can be there for people that we will never meet, that will never know us, and that's what keeps me up at night. It's what excites me about science, that we can learn ways of being with each other. And the behavioral sciences have not been enough of a part of cultural development. The physical sciences have; the behavioral sciences have not. And I would like to see if we can bring some things into human culture that would humanize and soften and empower people.”

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Author:Steven C. Hayes
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“When we fly planes over countries, dropping bombs on the evil ones, I think we're doing something very similar to what's being done when the infidels are getting their comeuppance with planes going into buildings. So it's gotten to the point where if we are not healthy psychologically as a human society, we will not have a planet to live on. And that's what keeps me up at night, when I see so little focus on the behavioral side of these problems, and the idea that just politics, or just physical science, is going to solve this.”

ThinkingCountryDoneProblemNightEvilFocusBuildingHealthyInfidelPhysical Science
Author:Steven C. Hayes
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“In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”

KnowsShouldMindHumansSometimesHappensLastsScienceReligionChangeInterestingViewsLearningHappenedPositionHumilityEvidenceArgumentScientistPainfulPhysicsHeartacheRecallsSkepticismLast TimeMistakenDnaScience And ReligionSkepticalSkepticScience And TechnologyArt And ScienceScientific MethodModern SciencePhilosophy Of ScienceNatural ScienceScience ReligionPhysical ScienceScientific TruthGreat ScienceScientific FactsScience PhysicsGod And SciencePale Blue DotScientific EvidenceGood ScienceSubtle AtheistScience LoveTheoretical PhysicsBest ScienceDiscovery In ScienceAdvances In ScienceNuclear Arms RaceInformation ScienceProgress In ScienceScientist LifeScience BooksEarth ScienceAdvancement Of ScienceFuture ScienceAtomic StructureScience FairImportance Of Science
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Understanding human nature must be the basis of any real improvement in human life. Science has done wonders in mastering the laws of the physical world, but our own nature is much less understood, as yet, than the nature of stars and electrons. When science learns to understand human nature, it will be able to bring a happiness into our lives which machines and the physical sciences have failed to create.”

WorldHumansRealDoneAbleLawStarsUnderstandingWonderOur LivesHuman NatureUnderstoodMachinesBasesImprovementHuman LifeElectronsPhysical Science
Book:Sceptical Essays
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“There are a multitude of allied branches of knowledge connected with mans condition; the relation of these to political economy is analogous to the connexion of mechanics, astronomy, optics, sound, heat, and every other branch more or less of physical science, with pure mathematics.”

PoliticalSoundKnowledgeEconomyConditionsPureRelationMathematicsConnectedAstronomyHeatBranchesMultitudesMechanicPhysical SciencePolitical EconomyOpticsConnexion
Book:The Theory of Political Economy
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“I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.”

KnowsKindScienceNumbersMathematicsMathMeasurementPhilosophy Of ScienceMath And ScienceMathematics And SciencePhysical ScienceMath EducationNumbers And MathMeasure For MeasureKnowing SomethingFlying Machines
Author:Lord Kelvin
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