Cases Quote by Hermann Bondi
“The test of science is not whether you are reasonable—there would not be much of physics if that was the case—the test is whether it works. And the great point about Newton’s theory of gravitation was that it worked, that you could actually say something about the motion of the moon without knowing very much about the constitution of the Earth.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Scientific Philosophy Lecture, 1970s
Science is judged by its predictive success, not by how intuitively reasonable it seems.
In simple terms: Science works if it predicts correctly.
Key Takeaway
Prioritize empirical validation over intuition.
Themes
science
philosophy
empiricism
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
explanatory
philosophical
When to use this quote
- engineering design
- policy making
- medical research
- technology development
Key Concepts
predictive power
theory testing
Newtonian mechanics
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you test a theory’s usefulness?
- When should intuition be set aside?
A Different Perspective
Reasonable theories may fail without practical verification.
![“[Newton's calculations] entered the marrow of what we know without knowing how we know it.” quote by Hermann Bondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/2fa/hermann-bondi-28727_calculations_newton-s-calculations-entered-the-marrow_1208442.jpg)
![“Our humanist attitude should therefore throughout be to stress what we all have in common with each other and relegate quarrelsome religion to the private domain where it can do [less] harm.” quote by Hermann Bondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fd1/hermann-bondi-28727_attitude_our-humanist-attitude-should-therefore-t_2251906.jpg)
![“[As in the case of] alcohol prohibition, illegality has driven organized crime, sent countless people to jail, and killed many thousands. Repression does not work.” quote by Sam Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/212/sam-branson-36458_alcohol_as-in-the-case-of-alcohol-prohibition-il_8703.jpg)
