At no period of [Michael Faraday's] unmatched career was he interested in utility. He was absorbed in disentangling the riddles of the universe, at first chemical riddles, in later periods, physical riddles. As far as he cared, the question of utility was never raised. Any suspicion of utility would have restricted his restless curiosity. In the end, utility resulted, but it was never a criterion to which his ceaseless experimentation could be subjected.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge over practical utility in scientific exploration.
Abraham Flexner reflects on Michael Faraday's scientific career, illustrating that Faraday's primary motivation was not the practical application of his discoveries, but rather a relentless pursuit of understanding the fundamental mysteries of the universe. The quote highlights how Faraday's focus on exploration and curiosity led to significant advancements in both chemistry and physics, suggesting that true innovation often arises from inquisitiveness rather than a desire for immediate utility.
In practice
In a lecture about the importance of scientific inquiry, this quote can be used to illustrate how curiosity drives innovation.
We feel strongly that the spirit characteristic of America at its noblest, above all the pursuit of higher learning, cannot admit of any conditions as to personnel other than those designed to promote the objects for which this institution is established, and particularly with no regard whatever to accidents of race, creed, or sex.
Burning fossil fuels emits carbon dioxide. And carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. There is no debate about that. The link is as certain as the link between smoking and cancer.
I can't imagine how many kids around the world will look at pictures of Pluto and think, 'I want to grow up to be a scientist.'
I don't know much about climate change. But I'm pretty sure we better figure out what to do to lessen its impact - at least its health impact - and that's not going to happen unless you have a lot of young talent interested in these topics.
You can't turn on your television without seeing these advertisements about clean coal, clean tar sands and the claim that there's more jobs associated with fossil fuels than other industries. That's of course not true. But they're hammering that into the voters' heads.
I believe that the extraordinary should be pursued. But extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
So far as hypotheses are concerned, let no one expect anything certain from astronomy, which cannot furnish it, lest he accept as the truth ideas conceived for another purpose, and depart from this study a greater fool than when he entered it.
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