Tout est poison, rien n'est poison, tout est une question de dose. Everything is poisonous, nothing is poisonous, it is all a matter of dose.
Claude BernardRead
We must alter theory to adapt it to nature, but not nature to adapt it to theory.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Theories should be adjusted to reflect natural phenomena rather than forcing nature to fit our theories.
Claude Bernard emphasizes the importance of aligning scientific theories with the realities of nature. Instead of trying to reshape natural occurrences to fit pre-existing theories, we should develop our understanding of theories based on observations and facts derived from nature itself. This approach fosters a more accurate comprehension of the scientific world.
Themes
TheoryNatureScienceAdaptationUnderstanding
In practice
Example use cases
During a scientific conference discussing the latest research findings.
More from Claude Bernard
All quotes →When a physician is called to a patient, he should decide on the diagnosis, then the prognosis, and then the treatment. ... Physicians must know the evolution of the disease, its duration and gravity in order to predict its course and outcome. Here statistics intervene to guide physicians, by teaching them the proportion of mortal cases, and if observation has also shown that the successful and unsuccessful cases can be recognized by certain signs, then the prognosis is more certain.
Claude BernardRead
The goal of scientific physicians in their own science ... is to reduce the indeterminate. Statistics therefore apply only to cases in which the cause of the facts observed is still indeterminate.
Claude BernardRead
Theories are like a stairway; by climbing, science widens its horizon more and more, because theories embody and necessarily include proportionately more facts as they advance.
Claude BernardRead
True science teaches us to doubt and, in ignorance, to refrain.
Claude BernardRead
Now, a living organism is nothing but a wonderful machine endowed with the most marvellous properties and set going by means of the most complex and delicate mechanism.
Claude BernardRead
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