--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If the task of scientific methodology is…" description: "\"If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together an account of what scientists actually do, then the testimony of biologists should be heard ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/peter-medawar-9996_accounts_if-the-task-of-scientific-methodology-is_2125781.jpg" --- # If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together… ![“If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together an account of what scientists actually do, then the testimony of biologists should be heard with specially close attention. Biologists work very close to the frontier between bewilderment and understanding. Biology is complex, messy and…” quote by Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/peter-medawar-9996_accounts_if-the-task-of-scientific-methodology-is_2125781.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/peter-medawar-9996_accounts_if-the-task-of-scientific-methodology-is_2125781.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7d3/peter-medawar-9996_accounts_if-the-task-of-scientific-methodology-is_2125781.jpg) > “If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together an account of what scientists actually do, then the testimony of biologists should be heard with specially close attention. Biologists work very close to the frontier between bewilderment and understanding. Biology is complex, messy and richly various, like real life; it travels faster nowadays than physics or chemistry (which is just as well, since it has so much farther to go), and it travels nearer to the ground. It should therefore give us a specially direct and immediate insight into science in the making.” [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Biology’s messy, fast‑moving nature offers a direct view of scientific practice, unlike more abstract fields. **In simple terms:** Biology shows science in action, with real‑world complexity. Key Takeaway Learn from biology’s practical insights. Themes science methodology biology complexity Mood curious reflective Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - lab research - field studies - policy making - education curricula Key Concepts empirical observation interdisciplinary study Questions to Reflect On - What can other sciences learn from biology’s approach? - How does complexity affect scientific progress? A Different Perspective Biology’s focus may overlook theoretical depth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accounts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accounts/) [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Bewilderment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bewilderment/) [Biologist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologist/) [Biologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologists/) [Biologists Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologists-heard-4359082/) [Biologists Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biologists-work-3485342/) [Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biology/) [Chemistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemistry/) [Complexes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/complexes/) [Development](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/development/) [Direct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/direct/) [Faster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faster/) [Frontiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/frontiers/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Insight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insight/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Messy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/messy/) [Methodology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/methodology/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Pieces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pieces/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-life/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Scientist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scientist/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Tasks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tasks/) [Testimony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/testimony/) [Testimony Biologists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/testimony-biologists-4359081/) [Together](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/together/) [Understanding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding/) [Understanding Biology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understanding-biology-1822056/) [Various](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/various/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [ “From year to year, and from age to age, we see \[biologists\] at work, adding no doubt much to the unknown, and advancing many… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-chambers/from-year-to-year-and-from-age-to-age-we-see-biologists-at-work/) [Robert Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-chambers/) > [There is no true understanding of Biology without Chemistry. And there's no true understanding of Chemistry without Physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/there-is-no-true-understanding-of-biology-without-chemistry-and-there/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Teens are by nature, experimental learners. There is no real understanding of biology without the lab.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-mogel/teens-are-by-nature-experimental-learners-there-is-no-real/) [Wendy Mogel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendy-mogel/) > [“Great literature remains great when it says new things to new generations, and the loops of a knot quite nicely parallel the contours and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-kean/great-literature-remains-great-when-it-says-new-things-to-new/) [Sam Kean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-kean/) > [Freudian psychoanalytical theory is a mythology that answers pretty well to Levi-Strauss's descriptions. It brings some kind of order into incoherence; it, too, hangs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/freudian-psychoanalytical-theory-is-a-mythology-that-answers-pretty/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [Someone like Einstein was quite clearly a moralist, and he had a very highly developed political vision and was very spiritual in his way,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-miller/someone-like-einstein-was-quite-clearly-a-moralist-and-he-had-a-very/) [Jonathan Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-miller/) > [I have a theory that evolutionary biologists are more vain than particle physicists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-ince/i-have-a-theory-that-evolutionary-biologists-are-more-vain-than/) [Robin Ince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-ince/) > [Cartoons are like fruit flies. Biologists use fruit flies because their large chromosomes and short life cycle make them ideal for studying hereditary changes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mankoff/cartoons-are-like-fruit-flies-biologists-use-fruit-flies-because/) [Robert Mankoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mankoff/) > [Evolutionary biologists are not content merely to explain how variation occurs within limits, however. They aspire to answer a much broader question-which is how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillip-e-johnson/evolutionary-biologists-are-not-content-merely-to-explain-how/) [Phillip E. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillip-e-johnson/) > [As physics students, we are taught that physicists are smart, that chemists are moderately acceptable, and that biologists are certainly not very intelligent. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-rothman/as-physics-students-we-are-taught-that-physicists-are-smart-that/) [James Rothman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-rothman/) > [Biologists can be divided into two classes: experimentalists who observe things that cannot be explained, and theoreticians who explain things that cannot be observed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aharon-katzir/biologists-can-be-divided-into-two-classes-experimentalists-who/) [Aharon Katzir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aharon-katzir/) > [A single human brain has about a hundred million nerve cells... and a computer program that throws light on the mind/brain problem will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-hoare/a-single-human-brain-has-about-a-hundred-million-nerve-cells-and-a/) [Tony Hoare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-hoare/) > [About the only things that are unique to Earth are our biota and our culture. If aliens ever come here, they'd most likely be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/about-the-only-things-that-are-unique-to-earth-are-our-biota-and-our/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [It is an occupational risk of biologists to claim, towards the end of their careers, that the problems which they have not solved are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maynard-smith/it-is-an-occupational-risk-of-biologists-to-claim-towards-the-end-of/) [John Maynard Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maynard-smith/) > [Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-paul-grasse/biochemists-and-biologists-who-adhere-blindly-to-the-darwinism-theory/) [Pierre-Paul Grasse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-paul-grasse/) ## More by Peter Medawar > [The USA is so enormous, and so numerous are its schools, colleges and religious seminaries, many devoted to special religious beliefs ranging from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/the-usa-is-so-enormous-and-so-numerous-are-its-schools-colleges-and/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/innocent-unbiased-observation-is-a-myth/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [An experiment not worth doing is not worth doing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/an-experiment-not-worth-doing-is-not-worth-doing-well/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [Science is the art of the solvable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/science-is-the-art-of-the-solvable/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [ \[A certain class of explanations in science are\] analgesics that dull the ache of incomprehension without removing the cause. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/a-certain-class-of-explanations-in-science-are-analgesics-that-dull/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [Twice in my life I have spent two weary and scientifically profitless years seeking evidence to corroborate dearly loved hypotheses that later proved to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/twice-in-my-life-i-have-spent-two-weary-and-scientifically-profitless/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [If politics is the art of the possible, research is surely the art of the soluble. Both are immensely practical-minded affairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/if-politics-is-the-art-of-the-possible-research-is-surely-the-art-of/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [Ask a scientist what he conceives the scientific method to be and he will adopt an expression that is at once solemn and shifty-eyed:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/ask-a-scientist-what-he-conceives-the-scientific-method-to-be-and-he/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [The human mind treats a new idea the way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/the-human-mind-treats-a-new-idea-the-way-the-body-treats-a-strange/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [I once spoke to a human geneticist who declared that the notion of intelligence was quite meaningless, so I tried calling him unintelligent. He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/i-once-spoke-to-a-human-geneticist-who-declared-that-the-notion-of/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [I reckon that for all the use it has been to science about four-fifths of my time has been wasted, and I believe this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/i-reckon-that-for-all-the-use-it-has-been-to-science-about-four/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [We shall not read it for its sociological insights, which are non-existent, nor as science fiction, because it has a general air of implausibility;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/we-shall-not-read-it-for-its-sociological-insights-which-are-non/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [The Phenomenon of Man stands square in the tradition of Naturphilosophie, a philosophical indoor pastime of German origin which does not seem even by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/the-phenomenon-of-man-stands-square-in-the-tradition-of/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [If a person is A) poorly, B) receives treatment intended to make him better, and C) gets better, then no power of reasoning known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/if-a-person-is-a-poorly-b-receives-treatment-intended-to-make-him/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) > [We cannot point to a single definitive solution of any one of the problems that confront us — political, economic, social or moral, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-medawar/we-cannot-point-to-a-single-definitive-solution-of-any-one-of-the/) [Peter Medawar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) [Explore all 68 Peter Medawar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-medawar/) ## 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": "If the task of scientific methodology is to piece together an account of what scientists actually do, then the testimony of biologists should be heard with specially close attention. 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