6 William Whewell Quotes on Science

William Whewell quotes on science

3. Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. Not only so; but scarcely any attempt is entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of steady thought, is altogether false; no tempting form of Error is without some latent charm derived from Truth.

7. The system becomes more coherent as it is further extended. The elements which we require for explaining a new class of facts are already contained in our system. Different members of the theory run together, and we have thus a constant convergence to unity. In false theories, the contrary is the case.

8. Man is the interpreter of nature, science the right interpretation.

9. In art, truth is a means to an end; in science, it is the only end.

10. The catastrophist constructs theories, the uniformitarian demolishes them.

11. It is a test of true theories not only to account for but to predict phenomena.