--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No scientist or student of science, need…" description: "\"No scientist or student of science, need ever read an original work of the past. As a general rule, he does not think of doing so. Rutherford was one o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a1/c-p-snow-17515_agreement_no-scientist-or-student-of-science-need_3030345.png" --- # No scientist or student of science, need ever read an… ![“No scientist or student of science, need ever read an original work of the past. As a general rule, he does not think of doing so. Rutherford was one of the greatest experimental physicists, but no nuclear scientist today would study his researches of fifty years ago. Their substance has all been…” quote by C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a1/c-p-snow-17515_agreement_no-scientist-or-student-of-science-need_3030345.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a1/c-p-snow-17515_agreement_no-scientist-or-student-of-science-need_3030345.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a1/c-p-snow-17515_agreement_no-scientist-or-student-of-science-need_3030345.png) > “No scientist or student of science, need ever read an original work of the past. As a general rule, he does not think of doing so. Rutherford was one of the greatest experimental physicists, but no nuclear scientist today would study his researches of fifty years ago. Their substance has all been infused into the common agreement, the textbooks, the contemporary papers, the living present.” [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific knowledge builds on past work, even if not directly read; foundations become integrated into current understanding. **In simple terms:** Science relies on accumulated knowledge, even unseen. Key Takeaway Study the foundations of your field. Themes science learning history Mood analytical curious Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - research projects - academic curricula - professional development Key Concepts knowledge integration intellectual humility Questions to Reflect On - How do you ensure you understand underlying principles? - When should you revisit original sources? A Different Perspective Foundational works may become obsolete or superseded. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Agreement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agreement/) [Common](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common/) [Contemporary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contemporary/) [Doe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doe/) [Doing Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doing-rutherford-4947419/) [Fifty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifty/) [Living Present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/living-present/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear/) [Nuclear Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nuclear-scientist-4947421/) [Originals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/originals/) [Paper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paper/) [Papers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/papers/) [Past](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/past/) [Physicist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicist/) [Physicists Nuclear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physicists-nuclear-751398/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rutherford/) [Rutherford Greatest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rutherford-greatest-4947420/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Study](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study/) [Substance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/substance/) [Textbooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/textbooks/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) [Years ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-ago/) ## Related quotes > [The one great gift to humankind from our nuclear physicists has been the nuclear bomb. How can we ever thank them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/the-one-great-gift-to-humankind-from-our-nuclear-physicists-has-been/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“He was a big, rather clumsy man, with a substantial bay window that started in the middle of the chest. I should guess that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/he-was-a-big-rather-clumsy-man-with-a-substantial-bay-window-that/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Einstein ... always spoke to me of Rutherford in the highest terms, calling him a second Newton.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-weizmann/einstein-always-spoke-to-me-of-rutherford-in-the-highest-terms/) [Chaim Weizmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-weizmann/) > [“As for the contract, I’m either trustworthy or I’m not. If I’m not, I’ll find a way to screw you no matter what the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-meyer/as-for-the-contract-i-m-either-trustworthy-or-i-m-not-if-i-m-not-i-ll/) [Scott Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-meyer/) > [Rutherford is a man you can rely on; he comes regularly and enquires how things are going and talks about the smallest details -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/rutherford-is-a-man-you-can-rely-on-he-comes-regularly-and-enquires/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [I've just finished reading a book about the brilliant Margaret Rutherford. She wasn't a beauty, but inside she was absolutely blazing and passionate about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-thompson/i-ve-just-finished-reading-a-book-about-the-brilliant-margaret/) [Sophie Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-thompson/) > [“Rutherford assented. “Yes, I liked him a good deal too, though I also saw surprisingly little of him, if you measure it in time.”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hilton/rutherford-assented-yes-i-liked-him-a-good-deal-too-though-i-also-saw/) [James Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hilton/) > [“Women revert to their maiden names in Heaven, Rutherford feels fairly certain. He can't remember where he learned this--France or the Bible.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-russell/women-revert-to-their-maiden-names-in-heaven-rutherford-feels-fairly/) [Karen Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-russell/) > [“The year that Rutherford died (1938) there disappeared forever the happy days of free scientific work which gave us such delight in our youth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pyotr-kapitsa/the-year-that-rutherford-died-1938-there-disappeared-forever-the/) [Pyotr Kapitsa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pyotr-kapitsa/) > [When you look at the team that Jimmy Rutherford has put together and the players that he has, this is just a great story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bettman/when-you-look-at-the-team-that-jimmy-rutherford-has-put-together-and/) [Gary Bettman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bettman/) > [ \[Ernest Rutherford is\]...a second Newton. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/ernest-rutherford-is-a-second-newton/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“The landed classes neglected technical education, taking refuge in classical studies; as late as 1930, for example, long after Ernest Rutherford at Cambridge had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rhodes/the-landed-classes-neglected-technical-education-taking-refuge-in/) [Richard Rhodes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rhodes/) > [“ His work was so great that it cannot be compassed in a few words. His death is one of the greatest losses ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-john-thomson/his-work-was-so-great-that-it-cannot-be-compassed-in-a-few-words-his/) [Joseph John Thomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-john-thomson/) > [As scientists the two men were contrasting types—Einstein all calculation, Rutherford all experiment ... There was no doubt that as an experimenter Rutherford was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaim-weizmann/as-scientists-the-two-men-were-contrasting-types-einstein-all/) [Chaim Weizmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaim-weizmann/) > [“But I think sometimes happiness just meant living. Being present. Being alive. Being surrounded by those you loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paige-weaver/but-i-think-sometimes-happiness-just-meant-living-being-present-being/) [Paige Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paige-weaver/) ## More by C.P. Snow > [“A good many times I have been present at gatherings of people who, by the standards of the traditional culture, are thought highly educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/a-good-many-times-i-have-been-present-at-gatherings-of-people-who-by/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Well, we have seen a wonder. We ought to count our blessings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/well-we-have-seen-a-wonder-we-ought-to-count-our-blessings/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [If you pursue happiness you never find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/if-you-pursue-happiness-you-never-find-it/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [The most dreadful thing of all is that many millions of people in the poor countries are going to starve to death before our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/the-most-dreadful-thing-of-all-is-that-many-millions-of-people-in-the/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [The only weapon we have to oppose the bad effects of technology is technology itself. There is no other. We can't retreat into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/the-only-weapon-we-have-to-oppose-the-bad-effects-of-technology-is/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Davy was the type of all the jumped-up second-raters of all time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/davy-was-the-type-of-all-the-jumped-up-second-raters-of-all-time/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Nine English traditions out of ten date from the latter half of the nineteenth century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/nine-english-traditions-out-of-ten-date-from-the-latter-half-of-the/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [This ability to incorporate the past gives the sharpest diagnostic tool, if one asks whether a body of knowledge is a science or not.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/this-ability-to-incorporate-the-past-gives-the-sharpest-diagnostic/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [Two polar groups: at one pole we have the literary intellectuals, at the other scientists, and as the most representative, the physical scientists. Between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/two-polar-groups-at-one-pole-we-have-the-literary-intellectuals-at/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [“When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find that far more hideous crimes have been committed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/when-you-think-of-the-long-and-gloomy-history-of-man-you-will-find/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [By the year 2070 we cannot say, or it would be imbecile to do so, that any man alive could understand Shakespearean experience better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/by-the-year-2070-we-cannot-say-or-it-would-be-imbecile-to-do-so-that/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [ The main issue \[of the Scientific Revolution\] is that the people in the industrialised countries are getting richer, and those in the non-industrialised countries… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/the-main-issue-of-the-scientific-revolution-is-that-the-people-in-the/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [“What will people of the future think of us? Will they say, as Roger Williams said of some of the Massachusetts Indians, that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/what-will-people-of-the-future-think-of-us-will-they-say-as-roger/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [I should never have made a good scientist, but I should have made a perfectly adequate one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/i-should-never-have-made-a-good-scientist-but-i-should-have-made-a/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) > [“For the first time I saw a medley of haphazard facts fall into line and order. All the jumbles and recipes and hotchpotch of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-p-snow/for-the-first-time-i-saw-a-medley-of-haphazard-facts-fall-into-line/) [C.P. Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) [Explore all 37 C.P. Snow quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-p-snow/) ## More Agreement quotes > [Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hermann-hesse/therefore-i-see-whatever-exists-as-good-death-is-to-me-like-life-sin/) [Hermann Hesse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hermann-hesse/) > [There's no way to have a peace agreement unless the mediator or negotiator looks at both sides from an equal basis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/there-s-no-way-to-have-a-peace-agreement-unless-the-mediator-or/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) > [In coming to that agreement, my party had a clear philosophy throughout. In Northern Ireland, we should have institutions that respected the differences of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hume/in-coming-to-that-agreement-my-party-had-a-clear-philosophy/) [John Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hume/) > [Identity is not negotiable. An identity you have achieved by agreement is always a prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-john-harrison/identity-is-not-negotiable-an-identity-you-have-achieved-by-agreement/) [M. John Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-john-harrison/) > [I am formally accountable to the steering board of the PIC, and I meet with nine ambassadors from the PIC every week. I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-ashdown/i-am-formally-accountable-to-the-steering-board-of-the-pic-and-i-meet/) [Paddy Ashdown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-ashdown/) > [Because countries often have differing political and economic systems, agreements are needed to protect those invested in trade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-suzuki/because-countries-often-have-differing-political-and-economic-systems/) [David Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-suzuki/) > [As long as I sit at Henry Clay's desk, I will remember his lifelong desire to forge agreement, but I will also keep close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/as-long-as-i-sit-at-henry-clay-s-desk-i-will-remember-his-lifelong/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [Gaia's main problems are not industrialization, ozone depletion, overpopulation, or resource depletion. Gaia's main problem is the lack of mutual understanding and mutual agreement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/gaia-s-main-problems-are-not-industrialization-ozone-depletion/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [We recognize that NAFTA is a three-country agreement, and we need a three-country negotiation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrystia-freeland/we-recognize-that-nafta-is-a-three-country-agreement-and-we-need-a/) [Chrystia Freeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrystia-freeland/) > [At Ohio State University, to avoid being guilty of 'sexual assault' or 'sexual violence,' you and your partner now apparently have to agree on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/at-ohio-state-university-to-avoid-being-guilty-of-sexual-assault-or/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [Whatever you perceive, you always make a story with yourself as the main character, and that dictates your life. 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This was going to result in Iran getting 50 billion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/netanyahu-made-all-sorts-of-claims-this-was-going-to-be-a-terrible/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) [Browse all 1,138 Agreement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/agreement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "No scientist or student of science, need ever read an original work of the past. As a general rule, he does not think of doing so. Rutherford was one of the greatest experimental physicists, but no nuclear scientist today would study his researches of fifty years ago. Their substance has all been infused into the common agreement, the textbooks, the contemporary papers, the living present.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C.P. 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