--- title: "2 Biologist Quotes By Niles Eldredge" description: "2 Biologist quotes by Niles Eldredge. Plus more from Niles Eldredge and more Biologist sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/028/niles-eldredge-44808_agreement_paleontologist-niles-eldredge-a-prominen_718366.png" --- > [Paleontologist Niles Eldredge, a prominent evolutionist, said: 'The doubt that has infiltrated the previous, smugly confident certitude of evolutionary biology’s last twenty years has inflamed passions.' He spoke of the 'lack of total agreement even within the warring camps,' and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/paleontologist-niles-eldredge-a-prominent-evolutionist-said-the-doubt/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/028/niles-eldredge-44808_agreement_paleontologist-niles-eldredge-a-prominen_718366.png) > [If it is true that an influx of doubt and uncertainty actually marks periods of healthy growth in a science, then evolutionary biology is flourishing today as it seldom has flourished in the past. For biologists collectively are less agreed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/if-it-is-true-that-an-influx-of-doubt-and-uncertainty-actually-marks/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f8d/niles-eldredge-44808_biologist_if-it-is-true-that-an-influx-of-doubt-an_2906847.jpg) ## Other authors on Biologist - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-stephen-jay-gould-87041.jpg) Stephen Jay Gould 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/stephen-jay-gould/) - [Elliott Sober 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/elliott-sober/) ## More by Niles Eldredge > [The observation that species are amazingly conservative and static entities throughout long periods of time has all the qualities of the emperor's new clothes:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/the-observation-that-species-are-amazingly-conservative-and-static/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [One measure of the greatness of a work is that the characters who play roles in the narrative feel its essential truth. As someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/one-measure-of-the-greatness-of-a-work-is-that-the-characters-who/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [Paleontologist Niles Eldredge, a prominent evolutionist, said: 'The doubt that has infiltrated the previous, smugly confident certitude of evolutionary biology’s last twenty years has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/paleontologist-niles-eldredge-a-prominent-evolutionist-said-the-doubt/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [Darwin's prediction of rampant, albeit gradual, change affecting all lineages through time is refuted. The record is there, and the record speaks for tremendous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/darwin-s-prediction-of-rampant-albeit-gradual-change-affecting-all/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [The expectations of theory colour perception to such a degree that new notions seldom arise from facts collected under the influence of old pictures…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/the-expectations-of-theory-colour-perception-to-such-a-degree-that/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [And it has been the paleontologist- my own breed-who have been most responsible for letting ideas dominate reality: ...We paleontologist have said that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/and-it-has-been-the-paleontologist-my-own-breed-who-have-been-most/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [Paleontologists ever since Darwin have been searching (largely in vain) for the sequences of insensibly graded series of fossils that would stand as examples…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/paleontologists-ever-since-darwin-have-been-searching-largely-in-vain/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [If it is true that an influx of doubt and uncertainty actually marks periods of healthy growth in a science, then evolutionary biology is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/if-it-is-true-that-an-influx-of-doubt-and-uncertainty-actually-marks/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) > [“I'm doing now with cornets exactly what I used to do with trilobites: measuring, analyzing and cataloging the myriad gradations of their forms.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niles-eldredge/i-m-doing-now-with-cornets-exactly-what-i-used-to-do-with-trilobites/) [Niles Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niles-eldredge/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/niles-eldredge/#itemlist", "name": "2 Biologist Quotes By Niles Eldredge", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Paleontologist Niles Eldredge, a prominent evolutionist, said: 'The doubt that has infiltrated the previous, smugly confident certitude of evolutionary biology’s last twenty years has inflamed passions.' He spoke of the 'lack of total agreement even within the warring camps,' and added, 'things really are in an uproar these days . . . 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For biologists collectively are less agreed upon the details of evolutionary mechanics than they were a scant decade ago. 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