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Every scientific generation, measured by its most vocal members, exaggerates the historical importance of its own members. ...there is a perpetual temptation to study the latest and to neglect the past.

— Lancelot Law Whyte Essay on Atomism: From Democritus to 1960 (1961)

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More quotes by Lancelot Law Whyte

We are indeed a blind race, and the next generation, blind to its own blindness, will be amazed at ours.

Accent on Form: An Anticipation of the Science of Tomorrow (1955)

When a view attains wide popularity and seems obviously beyond question, its decline has usually begun or will begin very soon.

Essay on Atomism: From Democritus to 1960 (1961)

Nothing is more surprising than the surprises of history, and nothing more untrustworthy than the uncritical extrapolation of the tendencies of the recent past.

Essay on Atomism: From Democritus to 1960 (1961)

Theory confronts experiment, and both sides are a mixture of obscurity and clarity.

Essay on Atomism: From Democritus to 1960 (1961)

No one is so brilliant that he can afford to neglect what history can teach him.

Essay on Atomism: From Democritus to 1960 (1961)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Lancelot Law Whyte (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.