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Peter Medawar Quotes

An experiment not worth doing is not worth doing well Picture Quote #1

Heredity proposes and development disposes Picture Quote #1

Creosote has a pretty technological smell Picture Quote #1

The intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true or false. The importance of the strength of our conviction is only to provide a proportionately strong incentive to find out if the hypothesis will stand up to critical evaluation Picture Quote #1

Observation is the generative act in scientific discovery. For all its aberrations, the evidence of the senses is essentially to be relied upon provided we observe nature as a child does, without prejudices and preconceptions, but with that clear and candid vision which adults lose and scientists must strive to regain Picture Quote #1

The purpose of scientific enquiry is not to compile an inventory of factual information, nor to build up a totalitarian world picture of natural Laws in which every event that is not compulsory is forbidden. We should think of it rather as a logically articulated structure of justifiable beliefs about nature Picture Quote #1

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The alternative to thinking in evolutionary terms is not to think at all Picture Quote #1

The case I shall find evidence for is that when literature arrives, it expels science Picture Quote #1

To deride the hope of progress is the ultimate fatuity, the last word in poverty of spirit and meanness of mind Picture Quote #1

Yet the greater part of it, I shall show, is nonsense, tricked out with a variety of metaphysical conceits, and its author can be excused of dishonesty only on the grounds that before deceiving others he has taken great pains to deceive himself Picture Quote #1

We wring our hands over the miscarriages of technology and take its benefactions for granted. We are dismayed by air pollution but not proportionately cheered up by, say, the virtual abolition of poliomyelitis Picture Quote #1

The similarity between them is not the taxonomic key to some other, deeper, affinity, and our recognizing its existence marks the end, not the inauguration, of a train of thought Picture Quote #1

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I do not believe indeed, I deem it a comic blunder to believe that the exercise of reason is sufficient to explain our condition and where necessary to remedy it, but I do believe that the exercise of reason is at all times necessary Picture Quote #1

I once spoke to a human geneticist who declared that the notion of intelligence was quite meaningless, so I tried calling him unintelligent. He was annoyed, and it did not appease him when I went on to ask how he came to attach such a clear meaning to the notion of lack of intelligence. We never spoke again Picture Quote #1

No scientist is admired for failing in the attempt to solve problems that lie beyond his competence... Good scientists study the most important problems they think they can solve. It is, after all, their professional business to solve problems, not merely to grapple with them Picture Quote #1

Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in Picture Quote #1

Deductivism in mathematical literature and inductivism in scientific papers are simply the postures we choose to be seen in when the curtain goes up and the public sees us. The theatrical illusion is shattered if we ask what goes on behind the scenes. In real life discovery and justification are almost always different processes Picture Quote #1

For a scientist must indeed be freely imaginative and yet skeptical, creative and yet a critic. There is a sense in which he must be free, but another in which his thought must be very preceisely regimented; there is poetry in science, but also a lot of bookkeeping Picture Quote #1

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Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It is an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth century thought Picture Quote #1

All scientists know of colleagues whose minds are so well equipped with the means of refutation that no new idea has the temerity to seek admittance. Their contribution to science is accordingly very small Picture Quote #1

Scientific reasoning is a kind of dialogue between the possible and the actual, between what might be and what is in fact the case Picture Quote #1

The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it Picture Quote #1

It is the great glory as well as the great threat of science that everything which is in principle possible can be done if the intention to do it is sufficiently resolute Picture Quote #1

I do not propose to criticize the fatuous argument I have just outlined; here, to expound is to expose Picture Quote #1

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A scientist is no more a collector and classifier of facts than a historian is a man who complies and classifies a chronology of the dates of great battles and major discoveries Picture Quote #1

Simultaneous discovery is utterly commonplace, and it was only the rarity of scientists, not the inherent improbability of the phenomenon, that made it remarkable in the past. Scientists on the same road may be expected to arrive at the same destination, often not far apart Picture Quote #1

I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not Picture Quote #1

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An experiment not worth doing is not worth doing well (Peter Medawar Quotes) Heredity proposes and development disposes (Peter Medawar Quotes) Creosote has a pretty technological smell (Peter Medawar Quotes) The intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true or false. The importance of the strength of our conviction is only to provide a proportionately strong incentive to find out if the hypothesis will stand up to critical evaluation. (Peter Medawar Quotes) Observation is the generative act in scientific discovery. For all its aberrations, the evidence of the senses is essentially to be relied upon provided we observe nature as a child does, without prejudices and preconceptions, but with that clear and candid vision which adults lose and scientists must strive to regain (Peter Medawar Quotes) The purpose of scientific enquiry is not to compile an inventory of factual information, nor to build up a totalitarian world picture of natural Laws in which every event that is not compulsory is forbidden. We should think of it rather as a logically articulated structure of justifiable beliefs about nature (Peter Medawar Quotes) The alternative to thinking in evolutionary terms is not to think at all (Peter Medawar Quotes) The case I shall find evidence for is that when literature arrives, it expels science (Peter Medawar Quotes) To deride the hope of progress is the ultimate fatuity, the last word in poverty of spirit and meanness of mind (Peter Medawar Quotes) Yet the greater part of it, I shall show, is nonsense, tricked out with a variety of metaphysical conceits, and its author can be excused of dishonesty only on the grounds that before deceiving others he has taken great pains to deceive himself (Peter Medawar Quotes) We wring our hands over the miscarriages of technology and take its benefactions for granted. We are dismayed by air pollution but not proportionately cheered up by, say, the virtual abolition of poliomyelitis (Peter Medawar Quotes) The similarity between them is not the taxonomic key to some other, deeper, affinity, and our recognizing its existence marks the end, not the inauguration, of a train of thought (Peter Medawar Quotes) I do not believe indeed, I deem it a comic blunder to believe that the exercise of reason is sufficient to explain our condition and where necessary to remedy it, but I do believe that the exercise of reason is at all times necessary (Peter Medawar Quotes) I once spoke to a human geneticist who declared that the notion of intelligence was quite meaningless, so I tried calling him unintelligent. He was annoyed, and it did not appease him when I went on to ask how he came to attach such a clear meaning to the notion of lack of intelligence. We never spoke again (Peter Medawar Quotes) No scientist is admired for failing in the attempt to solve problems that lie beyond his competence... Good scientists study the most important problems they think they can solve. It is, after all, their professional business to solve problems, not merely to grapple with them (Peter Medawar Quotes) Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in (Peter Medawar Quotes) Deductivism in mathematical literature and inductivism in scientific papers are simply the postures we choose to be seen in when the curtain goes up and the public sees us. The theatrical illusion is shattered if we ask what goes on behind the scenes. In real life discovery and justification are almost always different processes (Peter Medawar Quotes) For a scientist must indeed be freely imaginative and yet skeptical, creative and yet a critic. There is a sense in which he must be free, but another in which his thought must be very preceisely regimented; there is poetry in science, but also a lot of bookkeeping (Peter Medawar Quotes) Considered in its entirety, psychoanalysis won’t do. It is an end product, moreover, like a dinosaur or a zeppelin; no better theory can ever be erected on its ruins, which will remain for ever one of the saddest and strangest of all landmarks in the history of twentieth century thought (Peter Medawar Quotes) All scientists know of colleagues whose minds are so well equipped with the means of refutation that no new idea has the temerity to seek admittance. Their contribution to science is accordingly very small (Peter Medawar Quotes) Scientific reasoning is a kind of dialogue between the possible and the actual, between what might be and what is in fact the case (Peter Medawar Quotes) The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it (Peter Medawar Quotes) It is the great glory as well as the great threat of science that everything which is in principle possible can be done if the intention to do it is sufficiently resolute (Peter Medawar Quotes) I do not propose to criticize the fatuous argument I have just outlined; here, to expound is to expose (Peter Medawar Quotes) A scientist is no more a collector and classifier of facts than a historian is a man who complies and classifies a chronology of the dates of great battles and major discoveries (Peter Medawar Quotes) Simultaneous discovery is utterly commonplace, and it was only the rarity of scientists, not the inherent improbability of the phenomenon, that made it remarkable in the past. Scientists on the same road may be expected to arrive at the same destination, often not far apart (Peter Medawar Quotes) I cannot give any scientist of any age better advice than this: the intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing over whether it is true or not (Peter Medawar Quotes)