In a small lab, if you make a mistake, you can go in the next day and fix it. But here, when you are committed to spending a hundred thousand or a million dollars, you can't fix it later. You need to have a system of checks and balances internally. In particle physics, that's just part of the structure.
Interpretation
Mistakes in large-scale projects are more costly and harder to fix than in smaller ones, necessitating a robust system of checks.
This quote emphasizes the importance of careful planning and internal systems of checks and balances in high-stakes environments, particularly in the field of particle physics. Unlike smaller experiments where errors can be corrected quickly, larger projects require thorough oversight to avoid costly mistakes that cannot be easily rectified.
In practice
In a scientific conference discussing best practices for research funding and oversight.
Every student of science, even if he cannot start his journey where his predecessors left off, can at least travel their beaten track more quickly than they could while they were clearing the way: and so before his race is run, he comes to virgin forest and becomes himself a pioneer.
The work on ants has profoundly affected the way I think about humans.
Science and technology have freed humanity from many burdens and given us this new perspective and great power. This power can be used for the good of all. If wisdom governs our actions; but if the world is mad or foolish, it can destroy itself just when great advances and triumphs are almost without its grasp.
There is a duality in recognising what an incredible disease it is - in terms of its origin, that it emerges out of a normal cell. It's a reminder of what a wonderful thing a normal cell is. In a very cold, scientific sense, I think a cancer cell is a kind of biological marvel.
No one trusts a model except the man who wrote it; everyone trusts an observation, except the man who made it.
If you look at all the serious scientists in the world, there is no big disagreement on the basics of this...it would be absolute lunacy to act as if climate change is not occurring.
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