We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.
William AndersRead
Of course, if one ignores contradictory observations, one can claim to have an "elegant" or "robust" theory. But it isn't science.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Science requires a thorough and honest examination of all observations, including those that contradict existing theories.
In this quote, Halton Arp emphasizes the importance of considering all observations in scientific inquiry. He suggests that a theory may appear elegant or robust if contradictory evidence is ignored, but such an approach undermines the essence of science, which is built on rigorous investigation and acceptance of evidence that may challenge established beliefs.
Themes
ScienceTheoryObservationTruthContradiction
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about scientific theories, one may use this quote to stress the importance of acknowledging all evidence.
Similar quotes
I conclude that, while it is true that science cannot decide questions of value, that is because they cannot be intellectually decided at all, and lie outside the realm of truth and falsehood. Whatever knowledge is attainable, must be attained by scientific methods; and what science cannot discover, mankind cannot know.
Bertrand RussellRead
I think it inevitably follows, that as new species in the course of time are formed through natural selection, others will become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct. The forms which stand in closest competition with those undergoing modification and improvement will naturally suffer most.
Charles DarwinRead
... chemistry is a trade for people without enough imagination to be physicists.
Arthur C. ClarkeRead
No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.
John Archibald WheelerRead
Observations indicate that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. It will expand forever, getting emptier and darker. Although the universe doesn’t have an end, it had a beginning in the Big Bang. One might ask what is before that but the answer is that there is nowhere before the Big Bang just as there is nowhere south of the South Pole.
Stephen HawkingRead