... scientific research is compounded of ... empirical procedures, general speculative ideas, and mathematical or abstract reasoning. James Bryant Conant More Quotes by James Bryant Conant More Quotes From James Bryant Conant Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. James Bryant Conant funny-inspirationalcouragemotivational The stumbling way in which even the ablest of the scientists in every generation have had to fight through thickets of erroneous observations, misleading generalizations, inadequate formulation, and unconscious prejudice is rarely appreciated by those who obtain their scientific knowledge from textbooks. James Bryant Conant prejudicefightingscience Just like a turtle, we only make progress if we stick our neck out. James Bryant Conant progressturtlessticks Education is what is left after all that has been learnt is forgotten. James Bryant Conant lefthas-beensforgotten Public education is a great instrument of social change. Through it, if we so desire, we can make our country more nearly a democracy without classes. To do so will require the efforts of us all-teachers, administrators, taxpayers and statesmen. Education is a social process, perhaps the most important process in determining the future of our country; it should command a far larger portion of our national income than it does today. James Bryant Conant educationteachercountry A Harvard education consists of what you learn at Harvard while you are not studying. James Bryant Conant harvardstudy Democracy is a small hard core of common agreement, surrounded by a rich variety of individual differences. James Bryant Conant individual-differencesdemocracyagreement Whether a man lives or dies in vain can be measured only by the way he faces his own problems, by the success or failure of the inner conflict within his own soul. And of this no one may know save God. James Bryant Conant soulmenway Behavior which appears superficially correct but is intrinsically corrupt always irritates those who see below the surface. James Bryant Conant irritatedsurfacebehavior Science advances, not by the accumulation of new facts, but by the continuous development of new concepts. James Bryant Conant developmentsciencefacts Some of mankind's most terrible misdeeds have been committed under the spell of certain magic words or phrases. James Bryant Conant tyrantsmagicpolitical I venture to define science as a series of interconnected concepts and conceptual schemes arising from experiment and observation and fruitful of further experiments and observations. The test of a scientific theory is, I suggest, its fruitfulness. James Bryant Conant venturetestsscience Every vital organization owes its birth and life to an exciting and daring idea. James Bryant Conant organizationbusinessinspirational In every section of the entire area where the word science may properly be applied, the limiting factor is a human one. We shall have rapid or slow advance in this direction or in that depending on the number of really first-class men who are engaged in the work in question. ... So in the last analysis, the future of science in this country will be determined by our basic educational policy. James Bryant Conant educationalsciencecountry Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence of performance. . . . There will always be the false snobbery which tries to place one vocation above another. You will become a member of the aristocracy in the American sense only if your accomplishments and integrity earn this appellation. James Bryant Conant accomplishmenthonestyintegrity He who enters a university walks on hallowed ground. James Bryant Conant hallowed-grounduniversitywalks Each honest calling, each walk of life, has its own elite, its own aristocracy based on excellence. James Bryant Conant aristocracyexcellencecalling A conceptual scheme is never discarded merely because of a few stubborn facts with which it cannot be reconciled; a conceptual scheme is either modified or replaced by a better one, never abandoned with nothing left to take its place. James Bryant Conant stubbornsciencefacts Science is a dynamic undertaking directed to lowering the degree of the empiricism involved in solving problems; or, if you prefer, science is a process of fabricating a web of interconnected concepts and conceptual schemes arising from experiments and observations and fruitful of further experiments and observations. James Bryant Conant degreesproblemscience There is only one proved method of assisting the advancement of pure science-that of picking men of genius, backing them heavily, and leaving them to direct themselves. James Bryant Conant leavinggeniusmen
