Ernst Mayr ( 10 of 12 )
Our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by discovery of new facts...
Our understanding of the world is achieved more effectively by conceptual improvements than by discovery of new facts...
The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts read more
The history of science knows scores of instances where an investigator was in the possession of all the important facts for a new theory but simply failed to ask the right questions.
Mathematics is as little a science as grammar is a language.
Mathematics is as little a science as grammar is a language.
...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.
...most scientific problems are far better understood by studying their history than their logic.
Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that read more
Evolution as such is no longer a theory for a modern author. It is as much a fact as that the earth revolves around the sun.
...anyone who writes about "Darwin's theory of evolution" in the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, read more
...anyone who writes about "Darwin's theory of evolution" in the singular, without segregating the theories of gradual evolution, common descent, speciation, and the mechanism of natural selection, will be quite unable to discuss the subject competently.
...definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding read more
...definitions are temporary verbalizations of concepts, and concepts- particularly difficult concepts- are usually revised repeatedly as our knowledge and understanding grows.
Every politician, clergyman, educator, or physician, in short, anyone dealing with human individuals, is bound to make grave mistakes if read more
Every politician, clergyman, educator, or physician, in short, anyone dealing with human individuals, is bound to make grave mistakes if he ignores these two great truths of population zoology: (1) no two individuals are alike, and (2) both environment and genetic endowment make a contribution to nearly every trait.
To take an unequivocal stand, it seems to me, is of greater heuristic value and far more likely to stimulate read more
To take an unequivocal stand, it seems to me, is of greater heuristic value and far more likely to stimulate constructive criticism than to evade the issue.
Scientific progress consists in the development of new concepts.
Scientific progress consists in the development of new concepts.
