9 quotes
Science may be described as the art of systematic over-simplification — the art of discerning what we may with advantage omit.
The Open Universe : An Argument for Indeterminism (1992)
Science must begin with myths, and with the criticism of myths.
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963)
...no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)
But science is one of the very few human activities — perhaps the only one — in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected.
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963)
Modern positivists are apt to see more clearly that science is not a system of concepts but rather a system of statements.
...non-reproducible single occurrences are of no significance to science.
The Logic of Scientific Discovery (1934)
I disbelieve in specialization and... experts. ...[P]aying too much respect to the specialist ...[is] destroying the commonwealth of learning, the rationalist tradition, and science ...
Realism and the Aim of Science (1983)
The doctrine that there is as much science in a subject as... mathematics in it, or as much... measurement or 'precision' in it, rests upon... misunderstanding.
Realism and the Aim of Science (1983)
The history of science, like the history of all human ideas, is a history of irresponsible dreams, of obstinacy, and of error. But science is one of the very few human activities — perhaps the only one — in which errors are systematically criticized and fairly often, in time, corrected. This is why we can say that, in science, we often learn from our mistakes, and why we can speak clearly and sensibly about making progress there.
Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge (1963)