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Henri Poincaré on Science

1854–1912 France

← All quotes by Henri Poincaré

10 quotes

To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

The very possibility of the science of mathematics seems an insoluble contradiction.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

There is no science apart from the general. It may even be said that the very object of the exact sciences is to spare us these direct verifications.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

Without interpolation all science would be impossible.

The Value of Science (1907)

Induction applied to the physical sciences is always uncertain, because it rests on the belief in a general order of the universe, an order outside of us.

Science and Hypothesis (1901)

Sociology is the science which has the most methods and the least results.

Science and Method (1908)

Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones. But a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.

Science and Hypothesis (1905)

Science is built of facts the way a house is built of bricks: but an accumulation of facts is no more science than a pile of bricks is a house.

Scientists believe there is a hierarchy of facts and that among them may be made a judicious choice. They are right, since otherwise there would be no science...

The Value of Science (1905)

Zoologists maintain that the embryonic development of an animal recapitulates in brief the whole history of its ancestors throughout geologic time. It seems it is the same in the development of minds. The teacher should make the child go over the path his fathers trod; more rapidly, but without skipping stations. For this reason the history of science should be our first guide.

Science and Method (1914)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Henri Poincaré (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.