--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The fact that the regions of nature…" description: "\"The fact that the regions of nature actually covered by known laws are few and fragmentary is concealed by the natural tendency to crowd our experience..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/arthur-david-ritchie-56780_applied-science_the-fact-that-the-regions-of-nature-actu_1197789.jpg" --- # The fact that the regions of nature actually covered by… ![“The fact that the regions of nature actually covered by known laws are few and fragmentary is concealed by the natural tendency to crowd our experience into those particular regions and to leave the others to themselves. We seek out those parts that are known and familiar and avoid those that are…” quote by Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/arthur-david-ritchie-56780_applied-science_the-fact-that-the-regions-of-nature-actu_1197789.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/arthur-david-ritchie-56780_applied-science_the-fact-that-the-regions-of-nature-actu_1197789.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a5c/arthur-david-ritchie-56780_applied-science_the-fact-that-the-regions-of-nature-actu_1197789.jpg) > “The fact that the regions of nature actually covered by known laws are few and fragmentary is concealed by the natural tendency to crowd our experience into those particular regions and to leave the others to themselves. We seek out those parts that are known and familiar and avoid those that are unknown and unfamiliar. This is simply what is called 'Applied Science.'” [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We focus on familiar, law‑governed parts of nature while ignoring vast unknown areas, a bias that defines applied science. **In simple terms:** We study what we know and ignore what we don’t. Key Takeaway Expand curiosity beyond familiar domains. Themes knowledge bias exploration science philosophy epistemology human nature Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type analytical philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research planning - education curricula - policy making - risk assessment Key Concepts cognitive bias scientific methodology uncertainty Questions to Reflect On - What unknown areas could transform science if explored? - How can we balance safety with curiosity? A Different Perspective Our comfort with the known can limit breakthroughs in unknown realms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Applied science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/applied-science/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) ## Related quotes > [Metaphysics,--the science which determines what can and what cannot be known of being and the laws of being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/metaphysics-the-science-which-determines-what-can-and-what-cannot-be/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [Procrustes in modern dress, the nuclear scientist will prepare the bed on which mankind must lie; and if mankind doesn’t fit—well, that will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/procrustes-in-modern-dress-the-nuclear-scientist-will-prepare-the-bed/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality. For magic and applied science alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/for-the-wise-men-of-old-the-cardinal-problem-had-been-how-to-conform/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The aims of pure basic science, unlike those of applied science, are neither fast-flowing nor pragmatic. The quick harvest of applied science is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-barnett/the-aims-of-pure-basic-science-unlike-those-of-applied-science-are/) Lincoln Barnett > [If you sense a deep human need, then you go back to all the basic science. If there is some missing, then you try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/if-you-sense-a-deep-human-need-then-you-go-back-to-all-the-basic/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [“One rather curious conclusion emerges, that pure mathematics is on the whole distinctly more useful than applied. ... For what is useful above all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy-2/one-rather-curious-conclusion-emerges-that-pure-mathematics-is-on-the/) [G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy-2/) > [ “Even a pure mathematician may find his appreciation of this geometry \[applied geometry\] quickened, since there is no mathematician so pure that he feels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy-2/even-a-pure-mathematician-may-find-his-appreciation-of-this-geometry/) [G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy-2/) > [Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/concern-for-man-himself-and-his-fate-must-always-form-the-chief/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Yoga is a science, and not a vague dreamy drifting or imagining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/yoga-is-a-science-and-not-a-vague-dreamy-drifting-or-imagining/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are sciences and the applications of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/there-does-not-exist-a-category-of-science-to-which-one-can-give-the/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [But, contrary to the lady's prejudices about the engineering profession, the fact is that quite some time ago the tables were turned between theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-metropolis/but-contrary-to-the-lady-s-prejudices-about-the-engineering/) Nicholas Metropolis > [Why does this applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/why-does-this-applied-science-which-saves-work-and-makes-life-easier/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“At school you were taught about chemicals in test tubes, equations to describe motion, and maybe something on photosynthesis – about which more later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-goldacre/at-school-you-were-taught-about-chemicals-in-test-tubes-equations-to-2/) [Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-goldacre/) > [One of the chief inhibitions to human progress arises because of the extreme slowness with which the advances in knowledge become translated into action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-andrews-millikan/one-of-the-chief-inhibitions-to-human-progress-arises-because-of-the/) [Robert Andrews Millikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-andrews-millikan/) > [Unless we choose to decentralize and to use applied science, not as the end to which human beings are to be made the means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unless-we-choose-to-decentralize-and-to-use-applied-science-not-as/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) ## More by Arthur David Ritchie > [But it seems to me equally obvious that the orderliness is not all-pervasive. There are streaks of order to be found among the chaos,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/but-it-seems-to-me-equally-obvious-that-the-orderliness-is-not-all/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) > [It is really just as bad technique to make a measurement more accurately than is necessary as it is to make it not accurately…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/it-is-really-just-as-bad-technique-to-make-a-measurement-more/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) > [That our knowledge only illuminates a small corner of the Universe, that it is incomplete, approximate, tentative and merely probable need not concert us.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/that-our-knowledge-only-illuminates-a-small-corner-of-the-universe/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) > [The first thing the reasonable man must do is to be content with a very little knowledge and a very great deal of ignorance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/the-first-thing-the-reasonable-man-must-do-is-to-be-content-with-a/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) > [The material universe must consist ... of bodies ... such that each of them exercises its own separate, independent, and invariable effect, a change…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-david-ritchie/the-material-universe-must-consist-of-bodies-such-that-each-of-them/) [Arthur David Ritchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) [Explore all 6 Arthur David Ritchie quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-david-ritchie/) ## More Applied science quotes > [Unless we choose to decentralize and to use applied science, not as the end to which human beings are to be made the means,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/unless-we-choose-to-decentralize-and-to-use-applied-science-not-as/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [One of the chief inhibitions to human progress arises because of the extreme slowness with which the advances in knowledge become translated into action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-andrews-millikan/one-of-the-chief-inhibitions-to-human-progress-arises-because-of-the/) [Robert Andrews Millikan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-andrews-millikan/) > [“At school you were taught about chemicals in test tubes, equations to describe motion, and maybe something on photosynthesis – about which more later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-goldacre/at-school-you-were-taught-about-chemicals-in-test-tubes-equations-to-2/) [Ben Goldacre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-goldacre/) > [Why does this applied science, which saves work and makes life easier, bring us so little happiness? The simple answer runs: Because we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/why-does-this-applied-science-which-saves-work-and-makes-life-easier/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [But, contrary to the lady's prejudices about the engineering profession, the fact is that quite some time ago the tables were turned between theory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-metropolis/but-contrary-to-the-lady-s-prejudices-about-the-engineering/) Nicholas Metropolis > [There does not exist a category of science to which one can give the name applied science. There are sciences and the applications of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-pasteur/there-does-not-exist-a-category-of-science-to-which-one-can-give-the/) [Louis Pasteur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-pasteur/) > [Yoga is a science, and not a vague dreamy drifting or imagining.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-besant/yoga-is-a-science-and-not-a-vague-dreamy-drifting-or-imagining/) [Annie Besant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-besant/) > [Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors, concern for the great unsolved problems of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/concern-for-man-himself-and-his-fate-must-always-form-the-chief/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [ “Even a pure mathematician may find his appreciation of this geometry \[applied geometry\] quickened, since there is no mathematician so pure that he feels… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy-2/even-a-pure-mathematician-may-find-his-appreciation-of-this-geometry/) [G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy-2/) > [“One rather curious conclusion emerges, that pure mathematics is on the whole distinctly more useful than applied. ... For what is useful above all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-h-hardy-2/one-rather-curious-conclusion-emerges-that-pure-mathematics-is-on-the/) [G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-h-hardy-2/) > [If you sense a deep human need, then you go back to all the basic science. If there is some missing, then you try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edwin-land/if-you-sense-a-deep-human-need-then-you-go-back-to-all-the-basic/) [Edwin Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edwin-land/) > [The aims of pure basic science, unlike those of applied science, are neither fast-flowing nor pragmatic. The quick harvest of applied science is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lincoln-barnett/the-aims-of-pure-basic-science-unlike-those-of-applied-science-are/) Lincoln Barnett > [For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality. For magic and applied science alike…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/for-the-wise-men-of-old-the-cardinal-problem-had-been-how-to-conform/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Procrustes in modern dress, the nuclear scientist will prepare the bed on which mankind must lie; and if mankind doesn’t fit—well, that will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/procrustes-in-modern-dress-the-nuclear-scientist-will-prepare-the-bed/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [Good applied science in medicine, as in physics, requires a high degree of certainty about the basic facts at hand, and especially about their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/good-applied-science-in-medicine-as-in-physics-requires-a-high-degree/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) [Browse all 43 Applied science quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/applied-science/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The fact that the regions of nature actually covered by known laws are few and fragmentary is concealed by the natural tendency to crowd our experience into those particular regions and to leave the others to themselves. 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