12 quotes
The whole subject-matter of exact science consists of pointer readings and similar indications.
The Nature of the Physical World (1928)
The frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant of recent advances.
For the truth of the conclusions of physical science, observation is the supreme Court of Appeal.
The Philosophy of Physical Science (1938)
Science has an important part to play in our everyday existence, and there is far too much neglect of science; but its intention is to supplement not to supplant the familiar outlook.
Science and the Unseen World (1929)
Einstein's law of gravitation controls a geometrical quantity curvature in contrast to Newton's law which controls a mechanical quantity of force.
The Nature of the Physical World (1928)
The man in the street is always making this demand for concrete explanation of the things referred to in science; but of necessity he must be disappointed.
The Nature of the Physical World (1928)
I think it is not irreligion but a tidiness of mind, which rebels against the idea of permeating scientific research with a religious implication.
Science and the Unseen World (1929)
You will understand the true spirit neither of science nor of religion unless seeking is placed in the forefront.
Science and the Unseen World (1929)
Physical science comes nearest to that complete system of exact knowledge which all sciences have before them as an ideal. Some fall far short of it.
Science and the Unseen World (1929)
The Newtonian scheme says that the planet tends to move in a straight line, but the sun's gravity pulls it away. Einstein says that the planet tends to take the shortest route and does take it.
The Nature of the Physical World (1928)
Light-waves in passing a massive body such as the sun are deflected through a small angle. This is additional evidence that the Newtonian picture of gravitation as a tug is inadequate. You cannot deflect waves by tugging at them, and clearly another representation of the agency which deflects them must be found.
The Nature of the Physical World (1928)
The present revolution of scientific thought follows in natural sequence on the great revolutions at earlier epochs in the history of science. Einstein's special theory of relativity, which explains the indeterminateness of the frame of space and time, crowns the work of Copernicus who first led us to give up our insistence on a geocentric outlook on nature; Einstein's general theory of relativity, which reveals the curvature or non-Euclidean geometry of space and time, carries forward the rudimentary thought of those earlier astronomers who first contemplated the possibility that their existence lay on something which was not flat. These earlier revolutions are still a source of perplexity in childhood, which we soon outgrow; and a time will come when Einstein's amazing revelations have likewise sunk into the commonplaces of educated thought.