List of James Bryant Conant Quotes

It Seems As Though I Were In A Lunatic Asylum, But I Am Never Sure Who Is The Attendant And Who The Inmate.

Therefore, A Grotesque Account Of A Period Some Thousands Of Years Ago Is Taken Seriously Though It Be Built By Piling Special Assumptions On Special Assumptions, Ad Hoc Hypothesis [invented For A Purpose] On Ad Hoc Hypothesis, And Tearing Apart The Fabric Of Science Whenever It Appears Convenient. The Result Is A Fantasia Which Is Neither History Nor Science.

Even The Development Of The Steam Engine Owed But Little To The Advancement Of Science.

Diversity Of Opinion Within The Framework Of Loyalty To Our Free Society Is Not Only Basic To A University But To The Entire Nation.

Science Is A Dynamic Undertaking Directed To Lowering The Degree Of The Empiricism Involved In Solving Problems; Or, If You Prefer, Science Is A Process Of Fabricating A Web Of Interconnected Concepts And Conceptual Schemes Arising From Experiments And Observations And Fruitful Of Further Experiments And Observations.

The Dignity Of Man Is Vindicated As Much By The Thinker And Poet As By The Statesman And Soldier.

... Scientific Research Is Compounded Of ... Empirical Procedures, General Speculative Ideas, And Mathematical Or Abstract Reasoning.

He Who Enters A University Walks On Hallowed Ground.

Behavior Which Appears Superficially Correct But Is Intrinsically Corrupt Always Irritates Those Who See Below The Surface.

A Conceptual Scheme Is Never Discarded Merely Because Of A Few Stubborn Facts With Which It Cannot Be Reconciled; A Conceptual Scheme Is Either Modified Or Replaced By A Better One, Never Abandoned With Nothing Left To Take Its Place.

Some Of Mankind's Most Terrible Misdeeds Have Been Committed Under The Spell Of Certain Magic Words Or Phrases.

In Every Section Of The Entire Area Where The Word Science May Properly Be Applied, The Limiting Factor Is A Human One. We Shall Have Rapid Or Slow Advance In This Direction Or In That Depending On The Number Of Really First-class Men Who Are Engaged In The Work In Question. ... So In The Last Analysis, The Future Of Science In This Country Will Be Determined By Our Basic Educational Policy.