Applied science Quote by Lewis Thomas
“Good applied science in medicine, as in physics, requires a high degree of certainty about the basic facts at hand, and especially about their meaning, and we have not yet reached this point for most of medicine.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Lives of a Cell, Lewis Thomas, 1974
Medicine needs solid, certain facts and clear meanings, but most of it still lacks that foundation.
In simple terms: Medicine lacks solid facts.
Key Takeaway
Seek clearer evidence.
Themes
science
medicine
certainty
Mood
analytical
skeptical
Type
explanatory
critical
When to use this quote
- diagnosis
- treatment guidelines
- research design
Key Concepts
epistemology
clinical practice
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we improve evidence quality?
- What facts are most uncertain?
A Different Perspective
Complex systems resist simple certainty.
![“Even a pure mathematician may find his appreciation of this geometry [applied geometry] quickened, since there is no mathematician so pure that he feels no interest at all in the physical world; but, in so far as he succumbs to this temptation, he will be abandoning his purely mathematical position.” quote by G.H. Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/84c/g-h-hardy-2-30074_applications_even-a-pure-mathematician-may-find-his-a_1015722.jpg)
