--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Scientific practice is above all a…" description: "\"Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its form of discourse is inherently narrative. ......" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg" --- # Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice… ![“Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its form of discourse is inherently narrative. ... Biology as a way of knowing the world is kin to Romantic literature, with its discourse about organic form and function. Biology is the fiction…” quote by Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg) > “Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its form of discourse is inherently narrative. ... Biology as a way of knowing the world is kin to Romantic literature, with its discourse about organic form and function. Biology is the fiction appropriate to objects called organisms; biology fashions the facts "discovered" about organic beings.” [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Biology constructs narratives, intertwining facts with storytelling, similar to Romantic literature. **In simple terms:** Science tells stories about life. Key Takeaway Recognize narrative bias in scientific discourse. Themes science storytelling biology romanticism Mood analytical thought‑provoking Type academic philosophical When to use this quote - research communication - education - public understanding of science Key Concepts epistemology historicity interpretive frameworks Questions to Reflect On - How does narrative shape scientific truth? - Can we separate fact from story? A Different Perspective Stories may obscure objective data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) [Appropriate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/appropriate/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Biology Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology-fiction-5440273/) [Biology Inherently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology-inherently-5440274/) [Discourse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discourse/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Fashion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fashion/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Form](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/form/) [Function](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/function/) [Historical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/historical/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Narrative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative/) [Narrative Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/narrative-biology-5440272/) [Objects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/objects/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Practice Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice-biology-5255540/) [Romantic Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/romantic-literature-213670/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientific Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientific-practice-3907307/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Discussion is to Christian philosophy what lab work is to the practice of biology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-j-corcoran/discussion-is-to-christian-philosophy-what-lab-work-is-to-the/) [Kevin J. Corcoran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-j-corcoran/) > [“There have been applied sciences throughout the ages. ... However this so-called practice was not much more than paper in nearly all of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-doppler/there-have-been-applied-sciences-throughout-the-ages-however-this-so/) [Christian Doppler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-doppler/) > [The relevant features of scientific practice often have mundane explanations which don't point to any deep metaphysical moral. (Thus it would simply be messy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-papineau/the-relevant-features-of-scientific-practice-often-have-mundane/) [David Papineau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-papineau/) > [“Romantic literature often presents the individual as somebody caught in a struggle against the state and the market. Nothing could be further from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/romantic-literature-often-presents-the-individual-as-somebody-caught/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“The worst possible sexual education: a taboo imposed by the Catholic church plus romantic literature elevating love to unreal heights plus the obscene language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/czeslaw-milosz/the-worst-possible-sexual-education-a-taboo-imposed-by-the-catholic/) [Czeslaw Milosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/czeslaw-milosz/) > [We are deceiving ourselves if we believe that a literary work written and published in a country where 70 per cent of the population…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakaria-tamer/we-are-deceiving-ourselves-if-we-believe-that-a-literary-work-written/) [Zakaria Tamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakaria-tamer/) > [“Romantic literature often presents the individual as somebody caught in a struggle against the state and the market. Nothing could be further from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yuval-noah-harari/romantic-literature-often-presents-the-individual-as-somebody-caught-2/) [Yuval Noah Harari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yuval-noah-harari/) > [“Unfortunately, there’s still a market for rubbish. I picked up a recently written fantasy book at the weekend, and one character said of another:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/unfortunately-there-s-still-a-market-for-rubbish-i-picked-up-a/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Romantic literature is in effect imaginative lying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/romantic-literature-is-in-effect-imaginative-lying/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More by Donna J. Haraway > [Technology is not neutral. We're inside of what we make, and it's inside of us. We're living in a world of connections — and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/technology-is-not-neutral-we-re-inside-of-what-we-make-and-it-s/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/a-cyborg-is-a-cybernetic-organism-a-hybrid-of-machine-and-organism-a/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [We have all been injured, profoundly. We require regeneration, not rebirth, and the possibilities for our reconstitution include the utopian dream of the hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/we-have-all-been-injured-profoundly-we-require-regeneration-not/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [In language that is searing and lyrical, evocative and precise, this exceptional book thinks with the zombies, specters, felons, slaves, dogs, cadavers, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/in-language-that-is-searing-and-lyrical-evocative-and-precise-this/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Single vision produces worse illusions than double vision or many-headed monsters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/single-vision-produces-worse-illusions-than-double-vision-or-many/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [The cyborg would not recognize the garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-cyborg-would-not-recognize-the-garden-of-eden-it-is-not-made-of/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [“The cyborg is a creature in a post-gender world; it has no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labour, or other seductions to organic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-cyborg-is-a-creature-in-a-post-gender-world-it-has-no-truck-with/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Cyborgs are not reverent; they do not re-member the cosmos. They are wary of holism, but needy for connection- they seem to have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/cyborgs-are-not-reverent-they-do-not-re-member-the-cosmos-they-are/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Late twentieth-century machines have made thoroughly ambiguous the difference between natural and artificial, mind and body, self-developing and externally designed, and many other distinctions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/late-twentieth-century-machines-have-made-thoroughly-ambiguous-the/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/though-both-are-bound-in-the-spiral-dance-i-would-rather-be-a-cyborg/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [The boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/the-boundary-between-science-fiction-and-social-reality-is-an-optical/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [It is not just that science and technology are possible means of great human satisfaction, as well as a matrix of complex dominations. Cyborg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/it-is-not-just-that-science-and-technology-are-possible-means-of/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/our-machines-are-disturbingly-lively-and-we-ourselves-frighteningly/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [Blasphemy has always seemed to require taking things very seriously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/blasphemy-has-always-seemed-to-require-taking-things-very-seriously/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) > [I’d rather be a Cyborg than a Goddess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/i-d-rather-be-a-cyborg-than-a-goddess/) [Donna J. Haraway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) [Explore all 23 Donna J. Haraway quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/) ## More Accounts quotes > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [Think of these things, whence you came, where you are going, and to whom you must account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/think-of-these-things-whence-you-came-where-you-are-going-and-to-whom/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [With the Truman book, I wrote the entire account of his experiences in World War I before going over to Europe to follow his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mccullough/with-the-truman-book-i-wrote-the-entire-account-of-his-experiences-in/) [David McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mccullough/) > [A great read; an exciting, frightening account of organized crime today. But like all important works of nonfiction, it goes further… This book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/le-ly-hayslip/a-great-read-an-exciting-frightening-account-of-organized-crime-today/) [Le Ly Hayslip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/le-ly-hayslip/) > [I had a very blessed journey with the upbringing I had. When you're working on sets as a stuntman, you have a firsthand account…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ric-roman-waugh/i-had-a-very-blessed-journey-with-the-upbringing-i-had-when-you-re/) [Ric Roman Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ric-roman-waugh/) > [The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion or in politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-suppression-of-uncomfortable-ideas-may-be-common-in-religion-or/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [You've got to exercise. Your health account, your bank account, they're the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lalanne/you-ve-got-to-exercise-your-health-account-your-bank-account-they-re/) [Jack LaLanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lalanne/) > [No physiologist who calmly considers the question in connection with the general truths of his science, can long resist the conviction that different parts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/no-physiologist-who-calmly-considers-the-question-in-connection-with/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [God puts you where God needs you. You are where you are supposed to be. The job you are doing may not be any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-kushner/god-puts-you-where-god-needs-you-you-are-where-you-are-supposed-to-be/) [Lawrence Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-kushner/) > [Stop trying to treat music like it's a tennis shoe, something to be branded. If the music industry wants to save money, they should…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-tweedy/stop-trying-to-treat-music-like-it-s-a-tennis-shoe-something-to-be/) [Jeff Tweedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-tweedy/) > [Anyone who thinks science is trying to make human life easier or more pleasant is utterly mistaken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/anyone-who-thinks-science-is-trying-to-make-human-life-easier-or-more/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [That surely must be a concern to anyone who decides this drug must be given to stop transmissions, again from mother to child, which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thabo-mbeki/that-surely-must-be-a-concern-to-anyone-who-decides-this-drug-must-be/) [Thabo Mbeki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thabo-mbeki/) [Browse all 2,677 Accounts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its form of discourse is inherently narrative. ... Biology as a way of knowing the world is kin to Romantic literature, with its discourse about organic form and function. Biology is the fiction appropriate to objects called organisms; biology fashions the facts \"discovered\" about organic beings.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Donna J. Haraway" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story-telling-practice-biology-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Accounts" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story-telling-practice-biology-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bab/donna-j-haraway-25098_accounts_scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story_2301243.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Scientific practice is above all a story-telling practice. ... Biology is inherently historical, and its…” — Donna J. Haraway", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Donna J. Haraway", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-j-haraway/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Scientific practice is above all a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story-telling-practice-biology-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-j-haraway/scientific-practice-is-above-all-a-story-telling-practice-biology-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```