“It is ironic that Einsteins most creative work, the general theory of relativity, should boil down to conceptualizing space as a medium when his original premise [in special relativity] was that no such medium existed[..].” ShouldSpaceCreativeSpecialTheoryOriginalsMediumsIronicPremisesRelativityCreative WorkTheories Of Relativity Book:A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics From the Bottom Down Source: A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics From the Bottom Down
“the pyramids were built for pharaohs on the happy theory that they could take their stuff with them. Versailles was built for kings on the theory that they should live surrounded by the finest stuff. The Mall of America is built on the premise that we should all be able to afford this stuff. It may be a shallow culture, but it's by-God democratic. Sneer if you dare; this is something new in world history.” IfsWorldShouldMayAbleAmericaCultureStuffTheoryKingsBuiltDemocraticDareSomething NewShoppingConsumerismFinestShallowWorld HistoryPremisesPyramidsMallsSneerPharaohsVersailles Book:You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You Source: You Got to Dance with Them What Brung You
“A theory is only as good as its assumptions. If the premises are false, the theory has no real scientific value. The only scientific criterion for judging the validity of a scientific theory is a confrontation with the data of experience.” IfsRealValuesJudgingTheoryDataAssumptionCriteriaPremisesConfrontationValidityScientific Theory Author:Maurice Allais
“A fundamental premise of American democratic theory is that government exists to serve the people. ... Public records are one portal through which the people observe their government, ensuring its accountability, integrity, and equity while minimizing sovereign mischief and malfeasance” PeopleGovernmentRecordsTheoryIntegrityFundamentalsDemocraticAccountabilitySovereignEquityPremisesMischiefPortalMinimizingMalfeasance Author:Sandra Day O'Connor
“A theory is the more impressive the greater the simplicity of its premises is, the more different kinds of things it relates, and the more extended its area of applicability.” GreaterTheoryImpressivePremisesThermodynamics Author:Albert Einstein
“I make a distinction between theory and methodology, the latter being the practical deployment of a premise. Theory on the contrary may well be applied, hence becomes methodology without a hitch, but isn't necessarily practical at all.” WellsMayTheoryContraryPracticalsDistinctionLatterPremisesMethodologyDeployment Author:Paul Fry