--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: All of science can be divided into…" description: "\"All of science can be divided into physics and stamp-collecting.\" — Lord Kelvin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png" --- # All of science can be divided into physics and… ![“All of science can be divided into physics and stamp-collecting.” quote by Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png) > “All of science can be divided into physics and stamp-collecting.” [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Science splits into fundamental physics and detailed cataloging, highlighting a tension between theory and data collection. **In simple terms:** Science is physics plus detailed data gathering. Key Takeaway Balance theory with observation. Themes science physics data collection methodology Mood analytical critical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - research planning - laboratory work - academic teaching Key Concepts philosophy of science epistemology Questions to Reflect On - Is cataloging science or a distraction? - How do we value theory versus data? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on data can hinder conceptual breakthroughs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Stamp collecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stamp-collecting/) [Stamps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stamps/) ## Related quotes > [All science is either physics or stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/all-science-is-either-physics-or-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [That which is not measurable is not science. That which is not physics is stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/that-which-is-not-measurable-is-not-science-that-which-is-not-physics/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/physics-is-the-only-real-science-the-rest-are-just-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [When people discover they are no good at baseball or hockey, they put away their bats and their skates and they take up amateur…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lynch/when-people-discover-they-are-no-good-at-baseball-or-hockey-they-put/) [Peter Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lynch/) > [It would be hard to conceive of any activity more useless than stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/it-would-be-hard-to-conceive-of-any-activity-more-useless-than-stamp/) [Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/) > [If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn't wish to revise, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-hall/if-the-poet-wants-to-be-a-poet-the-poet-must-force-the-poet-to-revise/) [Donald Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-hall/) > [I don't think being obsessed with sex is any stranger than being obsessed with stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-sprinkle/i-don-t-think-being-obsessed-with-sex-is-any-stranger-than-being/) [Annie Sprinkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-sprinkle/) > [Preserving tradition has become a nice hobby, like stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/preserving-tradition-has-become-a-nice-hobby-like-stamp-collecting/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [“And here I sit with my stamps in a complete muddle, and nobody has bothered to tell me what it's all about." "Listen now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tove-jansson/and-here-i-sit-with-my-stamps-in-a-complete-muddle-and-nobody-has/) [Tove Jansson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tove-jansson/) > [In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/in-science-there-is-only-physics-all-the-rest-is-stamp-collecting/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [I studied communications, only because I could get my own show on the campus radio station. I never thought of it as a career.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaskade/i-studied-communications-only-because-i-could-get-my-own-show-on-the/) [Kaskade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaskade/) > [This is a dreadful thing to say, but I have wondered in my darker hours that, if everything were legal, wouldn't it be kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/this-is-a-dreadful-thing-to-say-but-i-have-wondered-in-my-darker/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [the pleasure of possession, whether we possess trinkets, or offspring - or possibly books, or prints, or chessmen, or postage stamps - lies in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/the-pleasure-of-possession-whether-we-possess-trinkets-or-offspring/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [Smoking dope and hanging up Che's picture is no more a commitment than drinking milk and collecting postage stamps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbie-hoffman/smoking-dope-and-hanging-up-che-s-picture-is-no-more-a-commitment/) [Abbie Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbie-hoffman/) > [The first thing I started collecting was stamps. Until I started discovering girls. That was the end of stamps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eli-broad/the-first-thing-i-started-collecting-was-stamps-until-i-started/) [Eli Broad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eli-broad/) ## More by Lord Kelvin > [Christianity without the cross is nothing. The cross was the fitting close of a life of rejection, scorn and defeat. But in no true…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/christianity-without-the-cross-is-nothing-the-cross-was-the-fitting/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-study-science-deep-enough-and-long-enough-it-will-force-you-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you are face to face with a difficulty, you are up against a discovery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-are-face-to-face-with-a-difficulty-you-are-up-against-a/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you can not measure it, you can not improve it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-can-not-measure-it-you-can-not-improve-it/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/i-often-say-that-when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [If you cannot measure it, then it is not science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/if-you-cannot-measure-it-then-it-is-not-science/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Simplification of modes of proof is not merely an indication of advance in our knowledge of a subject, but is also the surest guarantee…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/simplification-of-modes-of-proof-is-not-merely-an-indication-of/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Quaternions came from Hamilton after his really good work had been done, and though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/quaternions-came-from-hamilton-after-his-really-good-work-had-been/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/do-not-imagine-that-mathematics-is-hard-and-crabbed-and-repulsive-to/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Let nobody be afraid of true freedom of thought. Let us be free in thought and criticism; but, with freedom, we are bound to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/let-nobody-be-afraid-of-true-freedom-of-thought-let-us-be-free-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Symmetrical equations are good in their place, but ' vector ' is a useless survival, or offshoot from quaternions, and has never been of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/symmetrical-equations-are-good-in-their-place-but-vector-is-a-useless/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Mathematics is the only good metaphysics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/mathematics-is-the-only-good-metaphysics/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [You know only insofar as you can measure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/you-know-only-insofar-as-you-can-measure/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [Fourier is a mathematical poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/fourier-is-a-mathematical-poem/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) > [When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/when-you-can-measure-what-you-are-speaking-about-and-express-it-in/) [Lord Kelvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) [Explore all 63 Lord Kelvin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/) ## More Collecting quotes > [I've always been interested in photographs, collecting them not systematically but randomly. They get lost, then turn up again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald/i-ve-always-been-interested-in-photographs-collecting-them-not/) [W. G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald/) > [Taking photos is a form of collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-parr/taking-photos-is-a-form-of-collecting/) [Martin Parr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-parr/) > [If you're feeling fancy free, come wander through the world with me, and any place we chance to be, will be a rendezvous. Two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-mancini/if-you-re-feeling-fancy-free-come-wander-through-the-world-with-me/) [Henry Mancini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-mancini/) > [I found so-called great art too pompous, too stiff. What at this time was called minor art was freer, more imaginative, more open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lipchitz/i-found-so-called-great-art-too-pompous-too-stiff-what-at-this-time/) [Jacques Lipchitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lipchitz/) > [My real first job was delivering newspapers with I was 15. I would ride my bike around and chuck papers at people's houses. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dane-cook/my-real-first-job-was-delivering-newspapers-with-i-was-15-i-would/) [Dane Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dane-cook/) > [I didn't really grow up a comic book fanatic. I was a big baseball player, and my passion in life, in third grade, was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-ritchson/i-didn-t-really-grow-up-a-comic-book-fanatic-i-was-a-big-baseball/) [Alan Ritchson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-ritchson/) > [I don't know who had the training of you," he continued doggedly, "but your morals are shocking. You spent a night in my bed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loretta-chase/i-don-t-know-who-had-the-training-of-you-he-continued-doggedly-but/) [Loretta Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loretta-chase/) > [...You can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/you-can-go-your-whole-life-collecting-days-and-none-will-outweigh-the/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) > [Instead of collecting things and staying in one space, I want to collect experiences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kesh/instead-of-collecting-things-and-staying-in-one-space-i-want-to/) [Kesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kesh/) > [I started collecting couture when I was about 10 or 11 years old, and the very first piece I bought was a Balenciaga suit from 1962.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamish-bowles/i-started-collecting-couture-when-i-was-about-10-or-11-years-old-and/) [Hamish Bowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hamish-bowles/) > [I imagine the wave of water colliding with the rock and spilling over the tile floor, collecting around my shoes. Doing a little at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/i-imagine-the-wave-of-water-colliding-with-the-rock-and-spilling-over/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [I needed more knowledge in rigging and knotting. I started collecting books on knots and really learning more and more. That's how it started.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippe-petit/i-needed-more-knowledge-in-rigging-and-knotting-i-started-collecting/) [Philippe Petit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippe-petit/) > [Physics is the only real science. The rest are just stamp collecting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-rutherford/physics-is-the-only-real-science-the-rest-are-just-stamp-collecting/) [Ernest Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-rutherford/) > [Some prescient American collectors, including Vicki and Kent Logan and Mera and Donald Rubell, began collecting Chinese art before 2000 with a genuine passion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arne-glimcher/some-prescient-american-collectors-including-vicki-and-kent-logan-and/) [Arne Glimcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arne-glimcher/) > [If I collected all the diamonds in the world, I'd have no 'income' but I'd have a lot of 'assets'. Would my company be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vinod-khosla/if-i-collected-all-the-diamonds-in-the-world-i-d-have-no-income-but-i/) [Vinod Khosla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vinod-khosla/) Browse all 493 Collecting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All of science can be divided into physics and stamp-collecting.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lord Kelvin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physics-and-stamp-collecting/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Collecting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physics-and-stamp-collecting/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/26c/lord-kelvin-10819_collecting_all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physi_1066969.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“All of science can be divided into physics and stamp-collecting.” — Lord Kelvin", "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": "Lord Kelvin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-kelvin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "All of science can be divided...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physics-and-stamp-collecting/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-kelvin/all-of-science-can-be-divided-into-physics-and-stamp-collecting/#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 } } ] } ```