Who would not have been laughed at if he had said in 1800 that metals could be extracted from their ores by electricity or that portraits could be drawn by chemistry.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the skepticism people had towards scientific advancements in the past.
Michael Faraday points out the incredulity associated with revolutionary ideas in science, illustrating how concepts that seem absurd or impossible at one time, such as using electricity for metal extraction or chemistry for drawing, can become reality. It emphasizes the importance of imagination and innovation in advancing human knowledge and technology, inviting us to recognize that today's impossibilities may become tomorrow's achievements.
In practice
In a science class discussion about innovation, this quote can highlight how far we've come in technology.
I think chemistry is being frittered away by the hairsplitting of the organic chemists; we have new compounds discovered, which scarcely differ from the known ones and when discovered are valueless-very illustrations perhaps of their refinements in analysis, but very little aiding the progress of true science.
I am no poet, but if you think for yourselves, as I proceed, the facts will form a poem in your minds.
It is on record that when a young aspirant asked Faraday the secret of his success as a scientific investigator, he replied, 'The secret is comprised in three words- Work, Finish, Publish.'
When I consider the multitude of associated forces which are diffused through nature - when I think of that calm balancing of their energies which enables those most powerful in themselves, most destructive to the world's creatures and economy, to dwell associated together and be made subservient to the wants of creation, I rise from the contemplation more than ever impressed with the wisdom, the beneficence, and grandeur, beyond our language to express, of the Great Disposer of us all.
Water is to me, I confess, a phenomenon which continually awakens new feelings of wonder as often as I view it.
It is right that we should stand by and act on our principles; but not right to hold them in obstinate blindness, or retain them when proved to be erroneous.
The Earth is round, and is inhabited on all sides, is insignificantly small, and is borne through the stars.
I do not want to drive across a bridge designed by an engineer who believed the numbers in structural stress models are relative truths.
The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through evolutionary processes is comparable with the chance that a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the material therein.
I believe God did intend, in giving us intelligence, to give us the opportunity to investigate and appreciate the wonders of His creation. He is not threatened by our scientific adventures.
The Big Bang banged, and for some reason we’re here. And that’s astonishing. And that we can understand that, that’s the most astonishing.
I have found far greater enthusiasm for science in America than here in Britain. There is more enthusiasm for everything in America.
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