Theory Quotes

2628 Theory quotes by 1622 unique authors

The initial stage, the act of conceiving or inventing a theory, seems to me neither to call for logical analysis nor to be susceptible of… — Karl Popper
The method of science depends on our attempts to describe the world with simple theories: theories that are complex may become untestable, even if they… — Karl Popper
The more experiences and experiments accumulate in the exploration of nature, the more precarious the theories become. But it is not always good to discard… — Georg C. Lichtenberg
The old scientific ideal of episteme - of absolutely certain, demonstrable knowledge - has proved to be an idol. The demand for scientific objectivity makes… — Karl Popper
The philosopher of science is not much interested in the thought processes which lead to scientific discoveries; he looks for a logical analysis of the… — Hans Reichenbach
The theoretical idea ... does not arise apart from and independent of experience; nor can it be derived from experience by a purely logical procedure.… — Albert Einstein
The vortex theory [of the atom] is only a dream. Itself unproven, it can prove nothing, and any speculations founded upon it are mere dreams… — Lord Kelvin
The world little knows how many of the thoughts and theories which have passed through the mind of a scientific investigator, have been crushed in… — Michael Faraday
Their minds sang with the ecstatic knowledge that either what they were doing was completely and utterly and totally impossible or that physics had a… — Douglas Adams
Theoretical and experimental physicists are now studying nothing at all-the vacuum. But that nothingness contains all of being. — Heinz Pagels
Theoretical physicists accept the need for mathematical beauty as an act of faith... For example, the main reason why the theory of relativity is so… — Paul Dirac
Theory attracts practice as the magnet attracts iron. — Carl Friedrich Gauss
There is an attraction and a charm inherent in the colossal that is not subject to ordinary theories of art ... The tower will be… — Gustave Eiffel
There is no great harm in the theorist who makes up a new theory to fit a new event. But the theorist who starts with… — Gilbert K. Chesterton
To come very near to a true theory, and to grasp its precise application, are two different things, as the history of science teaches us.… — Alfred North Whitehead
To trace the series of these revolutions, to explain their causes, and thus to connect together all the indications of change that are found in… — John Playfair
To turn Karl [Popper]'s view on its head, it is precisely the abandonment of critical discourse that marks the transition of science. Once a field… — Thomas Kuhn
Understanding a theory has, indeed, much in common with understanding a human personality. We may know or understand a man's system of dispositions pretty well;… — Karl Popper
We can invent as many theories we like, and any one of them can be made to fit the facts. But that theory is always… — Albert Einstein
We may affirm of Mr. Buffon, that which has been said of the chemists of old; though he may have failed in attaining his principal… — Oliver Goldsmith
We must alter theory to adapt it to nature, but not nature to adapt it to theory.‎ — Claude Bernard
What I remember most clearly was that when I put down a suggestion that seemed to me cogent and reasonable, Einstein did not in the… — Hermann Bondi
When an investigator has developed a formula which gives a complete representation of the phenomena within a certain range, he may be prone to satisfaction.… — Arthur Eddington
When someone admits one and rejects another which is equally in accordance with the appearances, it is clear that he has quitted all physical explanation… — Epicurus
Without theory, practice is but routine born of habit. Theory alone can bring forth and develop the spirit of invention. ... [Do not] share the… — Louis Pasteur

Who Wrote These Theory Quotes

1,622 authors contributed a total of 2,628 Theory Quotes, led by these top contributors: