In order that the facts obtained by observation and experiment may be capable of being used in furtherance of our exact and solid knowledge, they must be apprehended and analysed according to some Conceptions which, applied for this purpose, give… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The hypotheses which we accept ought to explain phenomena which we have observed. But they ought to do more than this; our hypotheses ought to foretell phenomena which have not yet been observed; ... because if the rule prevails, it… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
In order that the facts obtained by observation and experiment may be capable of being used in furtherance of our exact and solid knowledge,… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
“And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into a horizontal line that shall be absolutely straight.” — William Whewell Copy Share Image
We cannot observe external things without some degree of Thought; nor can we reflect upon our Thoughts, without being influenced in the course of… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The catastrophist constructs theories, the uniformitarian demolishes them. — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The system becomes more coherent as it is further extended. The elements which we require for explaining a new class of facts are already… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The present generation finds itself the heir of a vast patrimony of science; and it must needs concern us to know the steps by… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The object of science is knowledge; the objects of art are works. In art, truth is the means to an end; in science, it… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The person who did most to give to analysis the generality and symmetry which are now its pride, was also the person who made… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
...the question undoubtedly is, or soon will be, not whether or no we shall employ notation in chemistry, but whether we shall use a… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
We need very much a name to describe a cultivator of science in general. I should incline to call him a scientist. [The first… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
The earlier truths are not expelled but absorbed, not contradicted but extended; and the history of each science, which may thus appear like a… — William Whewell Copy Share Image
Astronomy is ... the only progressive Science which the ancient world produced. — William Whewell Copy Share Image