35 quotes
As long as scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems.
The human mind, merely in its chemical and physical aspects, takes on new inspiring attributes.
Science is Not Enough (1967)
The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it.
As We May Think (1945)
We puzzle as to whether the universe is bounded or extends forever; whether, indeed, it may only be one universe among many.
Science is Not Enough (1967)
It is the duty to carry on, under stress, the search for understanding.
Science is Not Enough (1967)
There will always be plenty of things to compute in the detailed affairs of millions of people doing complicated things.
As We May Think (1945)
Presumably man's spirit should be elevated if he can better review his shady past and analyze more completely and objectively his present problems.
As We May Think (1945)
The pioneer spirit is still vigorous within this nation. Science offers a largely unexplored hinterland for the pioneer who has the tools for his task.
A belief may be larger than a fact. A faith that is overdefined is the very faith most likely to prove inadequate to the great moments of life.
Science is Not Enough (1967)
A record, if it is to be useful to science, must be continuously extended, it must be stored, and above all it must be consulted.
As We May Think (1945)
There is a new profession of trail blazers, those who find delight in the task of establishing useful trails through the enormous mass of the common record.
As We May Think (1945)
Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown.
Science - The Endless Frontier (1945)
Science, by itself, provides no panacea for individual, social, and economic ills.
Science - The Endless Frontier (1945)
Professionally our methods of transmitting and reviewing the results of research are generations old and by now are totally inadequate for their purpose.
As We May Think (1945)
He who would tell us with the authority of scholarship a complete story of why we exist, of our mission here, has a duty to speak convincingly in a world where men increasingly think for themselves.
Science is Not Enough (1967)
Babbage, even with remarkably generous support for his time, could not produce his great arithmetical machine. His idea was sound enough, but construction and maintenance costs were then too heavy.
As We May Think (1945)
If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.
As We May Think (1945)
The Encyclopoedia Britannica could be reduced to the volume of a matchbox. A library of a million volumes could be compressed into one end of a desk.
As We May Think (1945)
The publicly and privately supported colleges, universities, and research institutes are the centers of basic research. They are the wellsprings of knowledge and understanding.
Science - The Endless Frontier (1945)
Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready-made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified.
As We May Think (1945)