The third aspect of my subject is that of science as a method of finding things out. This method is based on the principle that observation is the judge of whether something is so or not. All other aspects and characteristics of science can be understood directly when we understand that observation is the ultimate and final judge of the truth of an idea. But 'prove' used in this way really means 'test,' in the same way that a hundred-proof alcohol is a test of the alcohol, and for people today the idea really should be translated as, 'The exception tests the rule.' Or, put another way, 'The exception proves that the rule is wrong.' That is the principle of science. If there is an exception to any rule, and if it can be proved by observation, that rule is wrong.

It's a great game to look at the past, at an unscientific era, look at something there, and say have we got the same thing now, and where is it? So I would lik…

No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither m…

Some people say, 'How can you live without knowing?' I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I w…

No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.

The truth may be puzzling. It may take some work to grapple with. It may be counterintuitive. It may contradict deeply held prejudices. It may not be consonant…

Anything which uses science as part of its name isn't: political science, creation science, computer science.