Monday, August 6, 2018

List of quotes by person posts

This post is a list of quotes by person posts for this blog. There are 400 posts listed below.
  1. Art (53)
  2. Astronomy (4)
  3. Biology (11)
  4. Chemistry (6)
  5. Computers, internet and education (54)
  6. Economics (46)
  7. History (4)
  8. Invention (4)
  9. Literature (21)
  10. Mathematics (26)
  11. Medicine (5)
  12. Music (6)
  13. Philosophy (108)
  14. Physics (29)
  15. Politics (6)
  16. Psychology (9)
  17. Sociology (6)
  18. Statistics (2)

1. Art (53)


Bacon, Francis (1909-1992)
Basquiat, Jean-Michel (1960-1988)
Braque, Georges (1882-1963)
Calder, Alexander (1898-1976)
Cézanne, Paul (1839-1906)
Chagall, Marc (1887-1985)
Chicago, Judy (1939-)
Dalí, Salvador (1904-1989)
Degas, Edgar  (1834-1917)
Duchamp, Marcel (1887-1968)
Gauguin, Paul (1848-1903)
Gogh, Vincent van (1853-1890)
Gogh, Vincent van (1853-1890) (love)
Gropius, Walter (1883-1969)
Hirst, Damien (1965-)
Hockney, David (1937-)
Hopper, Edward (1882-1967)
Johns, Jasper (1930-)
Kandinsky, Wassily (1866-1944)
Klee, Paul (1879-1940)
Koch, Stephen (1941-)
Kooning, Willem de  (1904-1997)
Koons, Jeff (1955-)
Kruger, Barbara (1945-)
Léger, Fernand (1881-1955)
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Lichtenstein, Roy (1923-1997)
Leibovitz, Annie (1949-)
Lissitzsky, El (1890-1941)
Magritte, René (1898-1967)
Malevich, Kazimir (1879-1935)
Manet, Édouard (1832-1883)
Matisse, Henri (1869-1954)
Michelangelo (1575-1564)
Miró, Joan (1893-1983)
Mondrian, Piet (1872-1944)
Monet, Claude (1840-1926)
O'Keeffe, Georgia (1887-1986)
Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973)
Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903)
Pollock, Jackson (1912-1956)
Raphael (1483-1520)
Rauschenberg, Robert (1925-2008)
Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Renoir, Pierre-Auguste (1841-1919)
Richter, Gerhard (1932-)
Rivera, Diego (1886-1957)
Rothko, Mark (1903-1970)
Schnabel, Julian (1951-)
Twombly, Cy (1928-2011)
Warhol, Andy (1928-1987)
Welles, Orson (1915-1985)

2. Astronomy (4)


Copernicus, Nicolaus (1473-1543)
Galilei, Galileo (1564-1642)
Kepler, Johannes (1571-1630)
Sagan, Carl (1964-1996)

3. Biology (11)


Carson, Rachel (1907-1964)
Darwin, Charles (1809-1882)
Haldane, J. B. S. (1892-1964)
Leeuwenhoek, Antonie van (1632-1723)
Linnaeus, Carl (1707-1778)
Mayr, Ernst (1904-2005)
Mendel, Gregor (1822-1884)
Monod, Jacques (1910-1976)
Pasteur, Louis (1822-1895)
Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913)
Wilson, E. O. (1929-)

4. Chemistry (6)


Boyle, Robert (1627-1691)
Curie, Marie (1867-1934)
Dalton, John (1766-1844)
Lavoisier, Antoine (1743-1794)
Mendeleev, Dmitri (1834-1907)
Pauling, Linus (1901-1994)

5. Computers, internet and education (54)


Breteton, Dmitri (blog post)
Berners-Lee, Tim (1955-)
Berners-Lee, Tim (1955-) (lecture)
Bohnett, David (1956-)
Boole, George (1815-1864)
boyd, danah (1977-)
Bush, Vannevar (1890-1974)
Cailliau, Robert (1947-)
Case, Steve (1958-)
Cooper, Alan (1952-)
Cunningham, Ward (1949-)
DeCarlo, Matt (interview)
Downes, Stephen (lecture)
Fuller, David (conversation)
Gardner, Sue (1967-)
Giblin, Rebecca (interview)
Harris, Tristian (1983/84-)
Hein, Fraziska / Wiegand, Alice (interview)
Ive, Jony (1967)
Jenkins, Henry (lecture)
Montessori, Maria (1870-1952)
Morel, Elisabeth (presentation)
Postel, Jon (1943-1998)
Postman, Neil (1931-2003)
Rasberry, Lane (presentation)
Raskin, Jef (1943-2005)
Raymond, Eric S. (1957-)
Simon, Herbert A. (1916-2001)
Sanger, Larry (1968-)
Sowa, John (1940-)
Schmachtenberger, Daniel (third attractor)
Swartz, Aaron (1986-2013)
Taylor, Matthew (interview)
Theil, Peter (1967-)
Torvalds, Linus (1969-)
Tretikov, Lila (interview)
Tschichold, Jan (1902-1974)
Turing, Alan (1912-1954)
Wales, Jimmy (1966-)
Wales, Jimmy (1966-) (interview)
Wozniak, Steve (1950-)
Zuckerman, Ethan (1973-)

6. Economics (46)


Arrow, Kenneth (1921-2017)
Bagehot, Walter (1826-1877)
Earle, Joe (interview)
Friedman, Milton (1912-2006)
    Friedman, Milton (1912-2006) (mini)
Frisch, Ragnar (1895-1973)
    Frisch, Ragnar (1895-1973) (mini)
Galbraith, John Kenneth (1908-2006)
    Galbraith, John Kenneth (1908-2006) (mini)
George, Henry (1839-1897)
Hayek, Friedrich (1899-1992)
Heckman, James (1944-)
Jevons, William Stanley (1835-1882)
    Jevons, William Stanley (1835-1882) (mini)
    Krugman, Paul (1953-) (mini)
Lawson, Tony (videos)
    Lawson, Tony (videos, mini)
Lawson, Tony (book)
    Lawson, Tony (book, mini)
Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766-1834)
    Malthus, Thomas Robert (1766-1834) (mini)
Marshall, Alfred (1842-1924)
    Marshall, Alfred (1842-1924) (mini)
Marx, Karl (1818-1883)
Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873)
Mises, Ludwig von (1881-1973)
Morgenstern, Oskar (1902-1977)
Quesnay, Francois (1694-1774)
Ricardo, David (1772-1823)
    Ricardo, David (1772-1823) (mini)
Rodrik, Dani (1957-)
    Rodrik, Dani (1957-) (mini)
Samuelson, Paul (1915-2009)
    Samuelson, Paul (1915-2009) (mini)
Say, Jean-Baptiste (1767-1832)
Schumpeter, Joseph (1883-1950)
Smith, Adam (1723-1790)
    Smith, Adam (1723-1790) (mini)
Smith, Noah (blog posts)
    Smith, Noah (blog posts, mini)
Stiglitz, Joseph (1943-)
Tinbergen, Jan (1903-1994)
Veblen, Thorstein (1857-1929)


7. History (4)


Boorstein, Daniel (1914-1987)
Dalberg-Acton, John (1834-1902)
Khaldun, Ibn (1332-1406)
Thucydides (460-400 BC)

8. Invention (4)


Bell, Alexander Graham (1847-1922)
Edison, Thomas (1847-1931)
Fuller, Buckminster (1895-1983)
Watt, James (1736-1819)

9. Literature (21)


Asimov, Isaac (1920-1994)
Bradbury, Ray (1920-2012)
Chesterton, G. K. (1874-1936)
Clarke, Arthur C. (1917-2008)
Eco, Umberto (1932-2016)
Flaubert, Gustave (1821-1880)
Frye, Northrop (1912-1991)
Ginsberg, Allen (1926-1977)
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749-1832)
Kafka, Franz (1883-1924)
Keller, Hellen (1880-1968)
Johnson, Samuel (1709-1784)
Lewes, George Henry (1817-1878)
Mann, Thomas (1875-1955)
Orwell, George (1903-1905)
Petrarch (1304-1374)
Paz, Octavio (1914-1998)
Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950)
Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946)
Voltaire (1792-1778)
Wells, H. G. (1866-1946)

10. Mathematics (26)


Abel, Niels Henrik (1802-1829)
Archimedes (287-212 BC)
Bell, Eric Temple (1883-1960)
Cantor, Georg (1845-1918)
De Morgan, Augustus (1806-1871)
Erdős, Paul (1913-1996)
Euclid (323-283 BC)
Euler, Leonard (1707-1783)
Fermat, Pierre de (1607-1665)
Gauss, Carl Friedrich (1777-1855)
Gödel, Kurt (1906-1978)
Grothendieck, Alexander (1928-2014)
Hardy, G. H. (1877-1947)
Hilbert, David (1862-1943)
Huygens, Christiaan (1629-1695)
Lagrange, Joseph-Louis (1736-1813)
Laplace, Pierre-Simon (1749-1827)
Mandelbrot, Benoit (1924-2010)
Neumann, John von (1903-1957)
Peano, Giuseppe (1858-1932)
Peirce, Benjamin (1809-1880)
Poincaré, Henri (1854-1912)
Ramsey, Frank (1903-1930)
Riemann, Bernhard (1826-1866)
Weyl, Hermann (1885-1955)
Wiles, Andrew (1953-)

11. Medicine (5)


Bernard, Claude (1813-1878)
Fleming, Alexander (1881-1955)
Harvey, William (1587-1657)
Jenner, Edward (1749-1823)
Lister, Joseph (1827-1912)

12. Music (6)


Bach, Johann Sebastian (1685-1750)
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1727)
Gillis, Gregg (1981-)
Harrison, George (1943-2001)
Lennon, John (1940-1980)
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)

13. Philosophy (108)


Anselm (1033-1109)
Aquinas, Thomas (1225-1274)
Arendt, Hannah (1902-1975)
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
Austin, J. L. (1911-1960)
Averroes (1126-1198)
Avicenna (980-1037 AD)
Ayer, A. J. (1910-1989)
Baba, Neem Karoli (1900-1973)
Bachelard, Gaston (1884-1962)
Bacon, Francis (1561-1626)
Bacon, Roger (1219-1292)
Bateson, Gregory (1904-1980)
Baudrillard, Jean (1929-2007)
Beauvoir, Simone de (1908-1986)
Bentham, Jeremy (1748-1832)
Bergson, Henri (1859-1941)
Berkeley, George (1685-1753)
Blavatsky, Madame (1831-1891)
Bloom, Allan (1930-1992)
Buber, Martin (1878-1965)
Camus, Albert (1913-1960)
Campbell, Joseph (1904-1987)
Carnap, Rudolf (1891-1970)
Comte, Auguste (1798-1857)
Crowley, Aleister (1875-1947)
Dass, Ram (1931-2019)
Deleuze, Gilles (1925-1995)
Derrida, Jacques (1930-2004)
Descartes, Rene (1596-1650)
Diderot, Denis (1713-1784)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (1803-1882)
Feuerbach, Ludwig (1804-1872)
Feyerabend, Paul (1924-1994)
Foucault, Michel (1926-1984)
Frege, Gottlob (1848-1925)
Gurdjieff, George (1866/77-1949)
Hacking, Ian (1936-)
Hall, Manly P. (1901-1990)
Hegel, Georg W. F. (1770-1831)
Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976)
Hobbes, Thomas (1588-1679)
Hume, David (1711-1776)
Husserl, Edmund (1859-1938)
Illich, Ivan (1926-2002)
Jackson, Michael C. (1951-)
James, William (1842-1910)
Kant, Immanuel (1724-1804)
Ma, Anandamayi (1896-1982)
Machiavelli, Niccolo (1469-1527)
Magnabosco, Anthony (presentation)
McKenna, Terence (1946-2000) (creativity)
McKenna, Terence (1946-2000) (language I)
McKenna, Terence (1946-2000) (language II)
McKenna, Terence (1946-2000) (information)
McLuhan, Marshall (1911-1980)
McLuhan, Marshall (1911-1980) (art)
Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873) (epistemology)
Mill, John Stuart (1806-1873) (free speech)
Montaigne, Michel de (1533-1592)
Moore, G. E. (1873-1958)
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900) (concepts)
Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900) (morality)
Neurath, Otto (1882-1945)
Nussbaum, Martha (1947-)
Ockham, William of (1287-1347)
Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662)
Peirce, Charles Sanders (1839-1914)
Plato (427-347 BC)
Popper, Karl (1902-1994)
Pythagoras (570-496 BC)
Parmenides (515 BC-)
Polkinghorne, John (1930-)
Quine, Willard van Orman (1908-2000)
Quintilian (35 - 100 AD)
Reid, Thomas (1710-1796)
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778)
Ryle, Gilbert (1900-1976)
Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970)
Samuels, L. K. (1951-)
Sarton, George (1884-1956)
Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905-1980)
Saussure, Ferdinand de (1857-1913)
Schelling, Friedrich (1775-1854)
Schlegel, Friedrich (1772-1829)
Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788-1860)
Socrates (470-399 BC)
Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677)
Steiner, Rudolf (1861-1925)
Strawson, P. F. (1919-2006)
Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862)
Watts, Alan (1915-1973)
Weil, Simone (1909-1943)
Whewell, William (1794-1866)
Whitehead, Alfred North (1861-1947)
Wilber, Ken (1949-)
Wilson, Colin (1931-2013)
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1889-1951)

14. Physics (29)


Bohm, David (1917-1992)
Bohr, Niels (1885-1962)
Boltzmann, Ludwig (1844-1906)
Born, Max (1882-1970)
Bridgman, Percy Williams (1882-1961)
Broglie, Louis de (1892-1987)
Chadwick, James (1881-1974)
Dirac, Paul (1902-1984)
Dyson, Freeman (1923-)
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955)
Einstein, Albert (1879-1955) (quantum mechanics)
Faraday, Michael (1791-1867)
Fermi, Enrico (1901-1954)
Feynman, Richard (1918-1988)
Hawking, Stephen (1942-2018)
Heaviside, Oliver (1850-1925)
Heisenberg, Werner (1901-1976)
Mach, Ernst (1838-1916)
Maxwell, James Clerk (1831-1879)
Newton, Isaac (1642-1726)
Penrose, Roger (1931-)
Planck, Max (1858-1947)
Rontgen, Wilhelm (1845-1923)
Rutherford, Ernest (1871-1937)
Schrodinger, Erwin (1887-1961)
Szilard, Leo (1898-1964)
Tesla, Nikola (1856-1943)
Thomson, William (1824-1907)
Witten, Edward (1951-)

15. Politics (6)


Havel, Václav (1936-2011)
Hoffman, Abbie (1936-1989)
King Jr., Martin Luther (1929-1968)
Paine, Thomas (1737-1809)
Rawls, John (1921-2002)
Solon (630-560 BC)

16. Psychology (9)


Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1934-)
Freud, Sigmund (1856-1939)
Jung, Carl (1875-1961)
Lacan, Jacques (1901-1981)
May, Rollo (1909-1994)
Reich, Wilhelm (1897-1957)
Seligman, Martin (1942-)
Vervaeke, John (conversation)
Vygotsky, Lev (1896-1934)

17. Sociology (6)


Durkheim, Emile (1858-1917)
Mannheim, Karl (1893-1947)
More, Thomas (1478-1535)
Owen, Robert  (1771-1858)
Quetelet, Adolphe (1796-1874)
Weber, Max (1864-1920)

18. Statistics (2)


Fisher, Ronald (1890-1962)
Mises, Richard von (1883-1953)
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Nicolaus Copernicus and heliocentrism


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish astronomer best known saying that the earth was not the center of the universe. Writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said,
"Of all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus. The world had scarcely become known as a round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the center of the universe."  (Wikiquote)
Science historian Alistair Cameron Crombie said,
"He is the supreme example of a man who revolutionized science by looking at the old facts in a new way." (Medieval and Early Modern Science, 1952)
Philosophy Edwin Arthur Burtt said,
"Copernicus had formed a rudimentary conception of scientific hypothesis, accommodated to his new astronomical method." (The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Physical Science, 1924)
The rest of this post is some quotes form Copernicus.

Heliocentrism


"For when a ship is floating calmly along, the sailors see its motion mirrored in everything outside, while on the other hand they suppose that they are stationary, together with everything on board. In the same way, the motion of the earth can unquestionably produce the impression that the entire universe is rotating." (De Revolutionibus Orbium Colestium, 1543)

"Finally, we shall place the sun himself at the center of the universe. All this is suggested by the systematic procession of event and the harmony of the whole universe, if only we face the facts, as they say 'with both eyes open'." (Quoted in the Copernican Revolution by Thomas Kuhn)

"Hence I feel no shame in asserting that this whole region engirdled by the moon and the center of the earth, traverse this grand circle amid the rest of the planets in an annual revolution around the sun. Near the sun is the center of the universe. Moreover, since the sun remains stationary, whatever appears as a motion of the sun is really due rather to the motion of the earth." (De Revolutionibus Orbium Colestium, 1543)
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Max Planck and metaphysics


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, German Federal Archives
Photo license: CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

Max Planck (1858-1947) was a German physicist best known for his early contributions to quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein said,
"[Planck] showed convincingly that in addition to the atomistic structure of matter there is a kind of atomistic structure to energy, governed by the universal constant h, which was introduced by Planck. This discovery became the basis of all twentieth-century research in physics and has almost entirely conditioned its development ever since." (Max Planck in Memorium, 1948)
The rest of this post is some quotes from Planck.

Metaphysics


"In other words, the fundamental principles and indispensable postulates of every genuinely productive science are not based on pure logic but rather on the metaphysical hypothesis - which no rules of logic can refute - that there exists an outer world which is entirely independent of ourselves." (Where is Science Going? The Universe in Light of Modern Physics, 1932)

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature and that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve." (Where is Science Going? 1932)

"No matter where and how far we look, nowhere do we find a contradiction between religion and natural science." (Religion and Natural Science, 1937)

"We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent spirit. This spirit is the matrix of all matter." (The Nature of Matter, 1944)

Scientific discovery


"New scientific ideas never spring from a communal body, however organized, but rather from the head of an individually inspired researcher who struggles with his problems in lonely thought and unites all this thought on one single point which is his whole world for the moment." (Address on the 25th anniversary of Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft, 1936)
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Ernest Rutherford and nuclear physics


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Library of Congress

Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) was British physicist best known for helping establish the nuclear structure of an atom. Physicist Freeman Dyson said,
"Rutherford's discovery was the beginning of the science that came to be called nuclear physics... The twenty years between 1909 and 1929 were the era of tabletop nuclear physics... Small and simple experiments were sufficient to establish the basic laws of nuclear physics." (The Scientist As Rebel, 2006)
The rest of this post is some quotes from Rutherford.

Nuclear physics


"We're like children who always want to take apart watches to see how they work." (Quoted in Seeing the Unseen by Freeman Dyson)

"When we have found how the nucleus of atoms is built up we shall have found the greatest secret of all - except life. We shall have found the basis of everything - of the earth we walk on, of the air we breathe, of the sunshine, of our physical body itself, of everything in the world, however great or however small - except life." (Quoted in The Wit and Wisdom of the 20th Century by Frank Pepper)

Chemistry


"I must confess it was it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist." (Quoted in Nobel Laureates and 20th Century Physics by Mauro Dardo)

Philosophy of language


"An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid." (Quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement by G.J. Whitrow)

"Don't let me catch anyone talking about the universe in my department." (Quoted in J. D. Bernal and the Origin of Life by John Kendrew)
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Sunday, August 5, 2018

Erwin Schrodinger and consciousness


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Nobel Foundation

Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961) was an Austrian physicist best known for his contributions to quantum mechanics and particle waves. Physicist Brian Greene says,
"Just a few months after de Broglie's suggestion, Schrodinger took the decisive step... by determining an equation that governs the shape and the evolution of probability waves, or as they became know, wave functions." (The Elegant Universe, 1999)
Jeremy Bernstein says,
"...even in this group Schrodinger stood out. He read widely in a variety of languages, ancient and modern. He was a scientific polymath with a deep interest in Eastern religions. He was also a romantic figure who wrote poetry." (Quantum Profiles, 1991)
The rest of this post is some quotes from Schrodinger.

Phenomenology


"[Science] cannot tell us a word about red and blue, bitter and sweet, physical pain and physical delight; it knows nothing of beautiful and ugly, good or bad, god and eternity. Science sometimes pretends to answer questions in these domains, but the answers are very often silly that we are not inclined to take them seriously." (Nature and the Greeks, 1954)

Consciousness


"Consciousness cannot be account for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be account for in terms of anything else." (Quoted in The Observer, 1931)

"Consciousness is never experienced in the plural, only in the singular." (The Oneness of Mind)

"Vedanta teaches that consciousness is singular, all happenings are played out in one universal consciousness and there is not multiplicity of selves." (My View of the World, 1961)

"The observing mind is not a physical system, it cannot interact with any physical system." (Nature and the Greeks, 1954)

Scientific laws


"The scientific world-picture vouchsafes a very complete understanding of all that happens - it makes it just a little too understandable." (Nature and the Greeks, 1954)

"Physical laws rest on atomic statistics and are therefore only approximate." (What is Life, 1944)

"God knows I am no friend of probability theory, I have hated it from the first moment when our dear friend Max Born gave it birth. For it could be seen how easy and simple it made everything, in principle, everything ironed and the true problems concealed." (Letter to Albert Einstein, 1946)
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Niels Bohr and the philosophy of language


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, Bain News Service

Niels Bohr (1885-1962) was a Danish physicist best known for his theory that electrons orbit around the nucleus of an atom. John Start Bell said,
"Bohr seemed to think that he had solved this question. I could not find his solution in his writings. But there was no doubt that he was convinced that he had solved the problem and, in so doing, had not only contributed to atomic physics, but to epistemology, to philosophy, to humanity and general." (Quoted in Quantum Profiles by Jeremy Bernstein)
Physicist Werner Heisenberg said,
"I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night and ended almost in despair; and when at the end of the discussion I went along for a walk in the neighbouring part I repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments."Physics and Philosophy, 1958)
The rest of this post is some quotes from Bohr.

Objective and subjective language


"But I myself find the division of the world into an objective and subjective side much too arbitrary. The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images and parables and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer." (Remarks after the Solvay Conference, 1927)

"I consider those developments in physics during the last decades which have shown how problematic such concepts as 'objective' and 'subjective' are, a great liberation of thought." (Remarks after the Solvay Conference, 1927)

"The objective world of 19th century science was, as we know today, an ideal limiting case, but not the whole reality." (Remarks after the Solvay Conference, 1927)

"We are suspended in language in a way that we cannot say what is up and what is down. The word 'reality' is also a word, and a word which we must learn to use correctly." (Quoted in Philosophy of Science, Vol. 37, 1934)

"The great extension of our experience in recent years has brought light to the insufficiency of our simple mechanical conceptions and, as consequence, has shaken the foundation on which the customary interpretation of observation was based." (Atomic Physics and the Description of Nature, 1934)

Experiments


"...simply by the word 'experiment' we refer to a situation where we can tell others what we have done and what we have learned..." (Quoted in Discussions withe Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics by Albert Schilpp)

"Physics is to be regarded not so much the study of something a priori given, but rather as the development of methods ordering and surveying human experience." (The Unity of Human Knowledge, 1960)
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James Clerk Maxwell and the history of science


Photo source: Wikimedia Commons

James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) was Scottish physicist best known for the classical theory of electromagnetism. As a result, Maxwell helped establish the mathematical relationship between electricity and magnetism. Physicist Freeman Dyson says,
"Maxwell discovered his equations, which describe the behavior of electric and magnetic fields under the most general conditions, in the year 1861, and published a clear and definitive statement of them in 1865. This was the great event of nineteenth century physics, achieving for electricity and magnetism what Newton had achieved for gravitation two hundred years earlier." (Missed Opportunities lecture, 1971)
The rest of this post is a collection of quotes from Maxwell.

History of science


"It is of great advantage to the student of any subject to read the original memoirs on that subject, for science is always most completely assimilated when it is in the nascent state..." (A Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism, 1873)

"...the history of science shews that even during that phase of her progress in which she devotes herself to improving the accuracy of the numerical measurement of quantities with which she has long been familiar, she is preparing for the materials for the subjugation of new regions, which would have remained unknown if she had been contented with the rough methods of her early pioneers." (The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, posthumous)

Experiments


"The aim of an experiment of illustration is to throw light upon some scientific idea so that the student may be able to grasp it... The phenomenon which we wish to observe or to exhibit is brought into prominence, instead of being obscured and entangled among other phenomena, as it would when it occurs in the ordinary course of nature." (The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, posthumous)

Mathematics


"Mathematicians may flatter themselves that they posses new ideas which mere human language is yet unable to express. Let them make the effort to express these ideas in appropriate words without the aid of symbols, and if they succeed, they will not only lay us laymen under a lasting obligation, but we venture to say, they will find themselves very much enlightened during the process..." (Quoted in Thomson and Tait's Natural Philosophy, 1873)

Metaphysics


"It has been asserted that metaphysical speculation is a thing of the past and that physical science has extirpated it. The discussion of the categories of existence, however, does not appear to be in danger of coming to an end in our time, and the exercise of speculation continues as fascinating to every fresh mind as it was in the days of Thales." (The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, posthumous)
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