At the sight of a single bone, of a single piece of bone, I recognize and reconstruct the portion of the whole from which it would have been taken. The whole being to which this fragment belonged appears in my mind's eye.
Interpretation
A single piece of evidence can reveal the existence and characteristics of a larger entity.
Georges Cuvier emphasizes the importance of using fragments of evidence to infer and reconstruct a larger picture, particularly in the context of paleontology and anatomy. His quote speaks to the idea that even a small piece of information can allow us to form a comprehensive understanding of an entire organism or system, highlighting the interconnectedness of parts and wholes in nature.
In practice
In a lecture on paleontology, one might quote Cuvier to highlight the significance of fossil evidence.
It is to them [fossils] alone that we owe the commencement of even a Theory of the Earth ... By them we are enabled to ascertain, with the utmost certainty, that our earth has not always been covered over by the same external crust, because we are thoroughly assured that the organized bodies to which these fossil remains belong must have lived upon the surface before they came to be buried, as they now are, at a great depth.
Genius and science have burst the limits of space, and few observations, explained by just reasoning, have unveiled the mechanism of the universe. Would it not also be glorious for man to burst the limits of time, and, by a few observations, to ascertain the history of this world, and the series of events which preceded the birth of the human race?
Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.
The magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just as the magnitude of the molecule determines the character of a compound body.
The laws of Congress and the laws of physics have grown increasingly divergent, and the laws of physics are not likely to yield.
If you've been wondering where the next gold rush is going to take place, look up at the night sky to our closest celestial neighbor. The next economic boom might just be a mere 240,000 miles away on the bella luna.
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.
Every aspect of the world today - even politics and international relations - is affected by chemistry.
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