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Scientific Inquiry Quotes

Browse 15 quotes about Scientific Inquiry.

Scientific Inquiry Quotes

“For more than a century America has occupied a position of scientific leadership and has gradually come to take it for granted. Although neither war nor economic depression nor political conflict has been able to threaten it, I now fear that that is about to change, for something has arisen that may indeed signal a change in our national character. That something is most visible in the debate over evolution, but it extends far beyond the teaching of a single subject in the curriculum of a single scientific discipline. It reveals a deep and profound split in the American psyche, an unease that threatens the way we think of ourselves as a people, the place we hold for science in our lives, and the way in which we will move into the twenty-first century. What is at stake, I am convinced, is nothing less than America’s scientific soul.”

EvolutionIntelligent DesignMagaAmerican ExceptionalismScientific InquiryAnti Science
Book:Only a Theory: Evolution and the Battle for America's Soul
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“What's that smell?" [my mother] shouted. "Biogas, it's-" "It's horrible!" By now the plastic was rumbling like mad, ready to blow. I had to act quickly. It was time to remove the reed and proceed with ignition. I reached over and quickly popped out the reed, and when I did, a pipe of silver steam came rushing out the top. My mother was right, it smelled vile. I'd set aside a long piece of grass, so I grabbed it now and poked it into the fire, catching a flame. "Stand back!" I shouted. "This could be dangerous." "What?!" I stood up and ran to the door, pushing my mother aside. With half my body shielded by the door frame, I stretched out my arm, inching the flame closer and closer. "Here it goes," I said. I touched the fire to the piping stream, clinching my eyes to shield them from the flash. But when the flame touched the gas, all it did was sputter and die. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was a piece of grass, dripping with foul water. My mother was furious. "Look what you've done; you've ruined my best cooking pot! Boiling goats' poop, I can't believe it. Wait until I tell your father..." I wanted to explain that I'd done it for her sake, but I guess it wasn't the right time.”

ExperimentsLearning From MistakesGoatsExperimentationScientific InquiryAlternative FuelsFailed Experiments
Author:William Kamkwamba
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“As a chief ingredient in the mythology of science, the accumulation of objective facts supposedly controls the history of conceptual change–as logical and self-effacing scientists bow before the dictates of nature and willingly change their views to accommodate the growth of conceptual knowledge. The paradigm for such an idealistic notion remains Huxley’s famous remark about “a beautiful theory killed by a nasty, ugly little fact.” But single facts almost never slay worldviews, at least not right away (and properly so, for the majority of deeply anomalous observations turn out to be wrong)... Anomalous facts get incorporated into existing theories, often with a bit of forced stretching to be sure, but usually with decent fit because most worldviews contain considerable flexibility. (How else could they last so long, or be so recalcitrant to overthrow?)”

ScienceKnowledgeBiasScientific ResearchScientific KnowledgeScientific TheoryScientific Inquiry
Book:Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History
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“I want to pause here and talk about this notion of consensus, and the rise of what has been called consensus science. I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had. Let's be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus. There is no such thing as consensus science. If it's consensus, it isn't science. If it's science, it isn't consensus. Period.”

ScienceEvolutionMajorityGlobal WarmingConsensusScientific MethodDarwinismScientific ResearchScientific DiscoveryIntelligent DesignScientific Theory9 11MinorityScientific RevolutionIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionSeptember 11 AttacksFluorideScientific InquiryMsgMajority ViewScientific ProcessMinority ViewExcitotoxinsMan Made Global WarmingBisphenol ABpaManmade Global WarmingMonosodium GlutamateDr Jack Cohen Podiatrist
Author:Michael Crichton
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“Teaching students the evidence for and against Darwinism is not the same as teaching intelligent design. The U.S. Congress has officially endorsed teaching students 'the full range of scientific views' about Darwinian evolution.”

ScienceEvolutionBiologyDarwinismIntelligent DesignIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionScientific Inquiry
Book:The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
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“I would remind you to notice where the claim of consensus is invoked. Consensus is invoked only in situations where the science is not solid enough. Nobody says the consensus of scientists agrees that E=mc2. Nobody says the consensus is that the sun is 93 million miles away. It would never occur to anyone to speak that way.”

ScienceEvolutionMajorityGlobal WarmingConsensusScientific MethodDarwinismScientific ResearchScientific DiscoveryIntelligent DesignScientific Theory9 11MinorityScientific RevolutionIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionSeptember 11 AttacksFluorideScientific InquiryMsgMajority ViewScientific ProcessMinority ViewExcitotoxinsMan Made Global WarmingBisphenol ABpaManmade Global WarmingMonosodium Glutamate
Author:Michael Crichton
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“The controversy between Darwinism and intelligent design has the characteristics of major scientific revolutions in the past. Darwinists are losing power because they treat with contempt the very people on whom they depend the most: American taxpayers. The outcome of this scientific revolution will be decided by young people who have the courage to question dogmatism and follow the evidence wherever it leads.”

ScienceEvolutionBiologyDarwinismIntelligent DesignScientific RevolutionIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionScientific Inquiry
Book:The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
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“If Darwinists are opposed to mentioning scientific problems with their view, you would think they would be even more opposed to mentioning intelligent design. Yet Darwinists have been discussing ID in public school science classes for years... Biology textbooks have been mentioning intelligent design since the late 1990s—but only to misrepresent and disparage it.”

ScienceEvolutionBiologyDarwinismIntelligent DesignIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionScientific Inquiry
Book:The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
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“Teachers seeking to 'teach the controversy' over Darwinian evolution in today's climate will likely be met with false warnings that it is unconstitutional to say anything negative about Darwinian evolution. Students who attempt to raise questions about Darwinism, or who try to elicit from the teacher an honest answer about the status of intelligent design theory will trigger administrators' concerns about whether they stand in Constitutional jeopardy. A chilling effect on open inquiry is being felt in several states already, including Ohio. South Carolina, and Pennsylvania. [District Court] Judge Jones's message is clear: give Darwin only praise, or else face the wrath of the judiciary.”

ScienceEvolutionBiologyDarwinismIntelligent DesignIdMacroevolutionMacro EvolutionScientific Inquiry
Book:Traipsing Into Evolution: Intelligent Design and the Kitzmiller v. Dover Decision
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