It seems to be a general rule that sciences begin their development with the unusual. They have to develop considerable sophistication before they interest themselves in the commonplace.
Interpretation
Scientific progress often starts with unique or unusual phenomena before focusing on more ordinary aspects.
Ralph Linton's quote suggests that the initial stages of scientific inquiry are driven by the exploration of unusual or exceptional cases, which captivates interest and fosters the development of sophisticated theories and concepts. Only after mastering these complexities do scientists turn their attention towards more mundane or commonplace elements, reflecting a progression from novelty to normality in the advancement of knowledge.
In practice
This quote can be used to inspire students in a science class to embrace curiosity and innovation.
The Yankees, the first mechanicians in the world, are engineers - just as the Italians are musicians and the Germans metaphysicians - by right of birth. Nothing is more natural, therefore, than to perceive them applying their audacious ingenuity to the science of gunnery.
Science now finds itself in paradoxical strife with society: admired but mistrusted; offering hope for the future but creating ambiguous choice; richly supported yet unable to fulfill all its promise; boasting remarkable advances but criticized for not serving more directly the goals of society.
Sometimes the probabilities are very close to certainties, but they're never really certainties
The most important tool of the theoretical physicist is his wastebasket.
We do not draw conclusions with our eyes, but with our reasoning powers, and if the whole of the rest of living nature proclaims with one accord from all sides the evolution of the world of organisms, we cannot assume that the process stopped short of Man. But it follows also that the factors which brought about the development of Man from his Simian ancestry must be the same as those which have brought about the whole of evolution.
We have genuflected before the god of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears and anxieties that science can never mitigate.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.