--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: At the heart of science lies discovery…" description: "\"At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a change in worldview. Discovery in science is possible only in societies which accord their citi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/john-charles-polanyi-14475_accord_at-the-heart-of-science-lies-discovery-w_455135.jpg" --- # At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a… ![“At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a change in worldview. Discovery in science is possible only in societies which accord their citizens the freedom to pursue the truth where it may lead and which therefore have respect for different paths to that truth.” quote by John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/john-charles-polanyi-14475_accord_at-the-heart-of-science-lies-discovery-w_455135.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/john-charles-polanyi-14475_accord_at-the-heart-of-science-lies-discovery-w_455135.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ffb/john-charles-polanyi-14475_accord_at-the-heart-of-science-lies-discovery-w_455135.jpg) > “At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a change in worldview. Discovery in science is possible only in societies which accord their citizens the freedom to pursue the truth where it may lead and which therefore have respect for different paths to that truth.” [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Scientific discovery reshapes worldviews and thrives only in free societies that respect diverse paths to truth. **In simple terms:** Freedom fuels scientific breakthroughs. Key Takeaway Support intellectual freedom. Themes science freedom truth Mood thoughtful analytical Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - research labs - policy making - education reform Key Concepts Epistemology social contract Questions to Reflect On - How can societies protect scientific inquiry? - What role does diversity play in discovery? A Different Perspective Freedom alone may not guarantee funding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Different path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-path/) [Different paths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-paths/) [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Discovery in science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery-in-science/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) [Worldview](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worldview/) ## Related quotes > [“Every discovery in science and art, is due to the trained power of seeing things ... Keep your eyes open, your ears open ... Trace difficulties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orison-swett-marden/every-discovery-in-science-and-art-is-due-to-the-trained-power-of/) [Orison Swett Marden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orison-swett-marden/) > [Networked science has the potential to speed up dramatically the rate of discovery across all of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-nielsen/networked-science-has-the-potential-to-speed-up-dramatically-the-rate/) [Michael Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-nielsen/) > [There will be a change in worldview from materialism and failure to conscious evolution. And everyone's potential to participate!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-marx-hubbard/there-will-be-a-change-in-worldview-from-materialism-and-failure-to/) [Barbara Marx Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-marx-hubbard/) > [Don’t try to change someone’s worldview is the strategy smart marketers follow. Don’t try to use facts to prove your case and to insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth/don-t-try-to-change-someone-s-worldview-is-the-strategy-smart/) [Seth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth/) > [Are you going to get offended when someone says something that is counter to your worldview? I think you need to be willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennys-sandgren/are-you-going-to-get-offended-when-someone-says-something-that-is/) [Tennys Sandgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennys-sandgren/) > [We must not forget that when radium was discovered no one knew that it would prove useful in hospitals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-curie/we-must-not-forget-that-when-radium-was-discovered-no-one-knew-that-2/) [Marie Curie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-curie/) > [Advances are Made by Answering Questions. Discoveries are Made by Questioning Answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-haisch/advances-are-made-by-answering-questions-discoveries-are-made-by-2/) [Bernard Haisch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-haisch/) > [For most of human history, we could only watch, like bystanders, the beautiful dance of Nature. But today, we are on the cusp of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michio-kaku/for-most-of-human-history-we-could-only-watch-like-bystanders-the/) [Michio Kaku](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michio-kaku/) > [In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken..."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/in-science-it-often-happens-that-scientists-say-you-know-that-s-a-2/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [Many discoveries must have been stillborn or smothered at birth. We know only those which survived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-ian-beardmore-beveridge/many-discoveries-must-have-been-stillborn-or-smothered-at-birth-we/) [William Ian Beardmore Beveridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-ian-beardmore-beveridge/) > [The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature... It is this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/the-only-solid-piece-of-scientific-truth-about-which-i-feel-totally/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Who never walks save where he sees men's tracks makes no discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/who-never-walks-save-where-he-sees-men-s-tracks-makes-no-discoveries/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [apparent contradiction ... is often the opportunity for new discovery in science; and it even may be said that the absence of apparent contradiction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-benson/apparent-contradiction-is-often-the-opportunity-for-new-discovery-in/) [Margaret Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-benson/) > [It is attention, more than any difference between minds and men.-In this is the source of poetic genius, and of the genius of discovery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-benjamin-collins-brodie-1st-baronet/it-is-attention-more-than-any-difference-between-minds-and-men-in/) Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, 1st Baronet > [The most important fundamental laws and facts of physical science have all been discovered, and these are now so firmly established that the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-a-michelson/the-most-important-fundamental-laws-and-facts-of-physical-science/) Albert A. Michelson ## More by John Charles Polanyi > [The respect for human rights, essential if we are to use technology wisely, is not something alien that must be grafted onto science. On…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/the-respect-for-human-rights-essential-if-we-are-to-use-technology/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [In the late 1950s a major topic under discussion was whether Canada should acquire nuclear weapons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/in-the-late-1950s-a-major-topic-under-discussion-was-whether-canada/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Though neglectful of their responsibility to protect science, scientists are increasingly aware of their responsibility to society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/though-neglectful-of-their-responsibility-to-protect-science/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Some dreamers demand that scientists only discover things that can be used for good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/some-dreamers-demand-that-scientists-only-discover-things-that-can-be/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [ \[Intellectual courage is\] the quality that allows one to believe in one's judgement in the face of disappointment and widespread skepticism. Intellectual courage is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/intellectual-courage-is-the-quality-that-allows-one-to-believe-in-one/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [It takes a trained and discerning researcher to keep the goal in sight, and to detect evidence of the creeping progress toward it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/it-takes-a-trained-and-discerning-researcher-to-keep-the-goal-in/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Individual scientists like myself - and many more conspicuous - pointed to the dangers of radioactive fallout over Canada if we were to launch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/individual-scientists-like-myself-and-many-more-conspicuous-pointed/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Science exists, moreover, only as a journey toward troth. Stifle dissent and you end that journey.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/science-exists-moreover-only-as-a-journey-toward-troth-stifle-dissent/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Science never gives up searching for truth, since it never claims to have achieved it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/science-never-gives-up-searching-for-truth-since-it-never-claims-to/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [The applause is a celebration not only of the actors but also of the audience. It constitutes a shared moment of delight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/the-applause-is-a-celebration-not-only-of-the-actors-but-also-of-the/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Nothing is more irredeemably irrelevant than bad science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/nothing-is-more-irredeemably-irrelevant-than-bad-science/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [If we treasure our own experience and regard it as real, we must also treasure other people's experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/if-we-treasure-our-own-experience-and-regard-it-as-real-we-must-also/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [What makes the Universal Declaration an epochal document is first of all its global impetus and secondly the breadth of its claims, a commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/what-makes-the-universal-declaration-an-epochal-document-is-first-of/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Instead, in the absence of respect for human rights, science and its offspring technology have been used in this century as brutal instruments for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/instead-in-the-absence-of-respect-for-human-rights-science-and-its/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) > [Though we explore in a culturally-conditioned way, the reality we sketch is universal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-charles-polanyi/though-we-explore-in-a-culturally-conditioned-way-the-reality-we/) [John Charles Polanyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) [Explore all 46 John Charles Polanyi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-charles-polanyi/) ## More Accord quotes > [To an ever greater extent out experience is governed by pictures, pictures in newspapers and magazines, on television and in the cinema. Next to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-crimp/to-an-ever-greater-extent-out-experience-is-governed-by-pictures/) [Douglas Crimp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-crimp/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Christian obligation cannot be made to accord with a law of expediency. The Christian's maxims are, Do right because you are bound to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-landey-patton/christian-obligation-cannot-be-made-to-accord-with-a-law-of/) Francis Landey Patton > [I've never had a very quiet voice. I tried in choir to make it smaller, and it just didn't work out. And I listened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-ditto/i-ve-never-had-a-very-quiet-voice-i-tried-in-choir-to-make-it-smaller/) [Beth Ditto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-ditto/) > [It is a very high mind to which gratitude is not a painful sensation. If you wish to please, you will find it wiser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/it-is-a-very-high-mind-to-which-gratitude-is-not-a-painful-sensation/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [To act choicelessly is to act in accord with the situation. If someone throws a rock, you duck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rami-m-shapiro/to-act-choicelessly-is-to-act-in-accord-with-the-situation-if-someone/) [Rami M. Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rami-m-shapiro/) > [“I'm not here to grant you the extraordinary love you never had for yourself. I'm here, on my own accord, to love you. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/i-m-not-here-to-grant-you-the-extraordinary-love-you-never-had-for/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [It is a misfortune that necessity has induced men to accord greater license to this formidable engine, in order to obtain liberty, than can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-f-cooper/it-is-a-misfortune-that-necessity-has-induced-men-to-accord-greater/) [James F. Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-f-cooper/) > [Life is a cutup. And to pretend that you write or paint in a timeless vacuum is just simply . . . not .…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-s-burroughs/life-is-a-cutup-and-to-pretend-that-you-write-or-paint-in-a-timeless/) [William S. Burroughs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-s-burroughs/) > [The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-dominant-propaganda-systems-have-appropriated-the-term/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/if-you-want-to-accord-with-the-tao-just-do-your-job-then-let-go/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords / If when the soul unto the lines accords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-fineness-which-a-hymn-or-psalm-affords-if-when-the-soul-unto-the/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [A covenant is an agreement between God and man, an accord whose terms are set by God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-todd-christofferson/a-covenant-is-an-agreement-between-god-and-man-an-accord-whose-terms/) [D. Todd Christofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-todd-christofferson/) > [All day I think about it, then at night I say it. Where did I come from, and what am I supposed to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/all-day-i-think-about-it-then-at-night-i-say-it-where-did-i-come-from/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/all-art-is-at-once-surface-and-symbol-those-who-go-beneath-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) Browse all 406 Accord quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "At the heart of science lies discovery which involves a change in worldview. 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