A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.
Science has helped us to understand and master ourselves, creating an elevated new form of human life, the wealth and beauty of which cannot be pictured today by the keenest imagination.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes how science has transformed our understanding of ourselves and our potential as humans.
The quote by Albert Szent-Gyorgyi reflects on the profound impact of science in enhancing our self-awareness and capabilities as human beings. It suggests that through scientific advancement, we have achieved a higher state of existence, one that is so rich and intricate that it surpasses what we can currently envision. The elevation of human life brought forth by science invites us to appreciate the potential for even greater developments in the future.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a science fair, a student quoted Szent-Gyorgyi to highlight the importance of scientific inquiry in understanding ourselves better.
More from Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
All quotes →I called it ignose, not knowing which carbohydrate it was. This name was turned down by my editor. 'God-nose' was not more successful, so in the end 'hexuronic acid' was agreed upon. To-day the substance is called 'ascorbic acid' and I will use this name.
It is impossible to encircle the hips of a girl with my right arm and hold her smile in my left hand, then proceed to study the two items separately. Similarly, we can not separate life from living matter, in order to study only living matter and its reactions. Inevitably, studying living matter and its reactions, we study life itself
Water is life's matter and matrix, mother and medium. There is no life without water.
The real scientist is ready to bear privation and, if need be, starvation rather than let anyone dictate to him which direction his work must take.
Research is to see what everybody else has seen, and to think what nobody else has thought.
Similar quotes
The core of science is not a mathematical modeling--it is intellectual honesty. It is a willingness to have our certainties about the world constrained by good evidence and good argument.
My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.
If you think about the impact of climate change, [it should be how] a doctor would deal with the problem. A scientific hypothesis is tested to absolute destruction, but medicine can't wait. If a doctor sees a child with a fever, he can't wait for [endless] tests. He has to act on what is there. The risk of delay is so enormous that we can't wait until we are absolutely sure the patient is dying.
Physics is very muddled again at the moment; it is much too hard for me anyway, and I wish I were a movie comedian or something like that and had never heard anything about physics!
But like all power, there are those who want to keep it for themselves. The world's entire scientific and cultural heritage, published over centuries in books and journals, is increasingly being digitized and locked up by a handful of private corporations. Want to read the papers featuring the most famous results of the sciences? You'll need to send enormous amounts to publishers like Reed Elsevier.
Even your chin is made up of exploded stars.