Do not imagine that mathematics is hard and crabbed, and repulsive to common sense. It is merely the etherealization of common sense.
Lord KelvinRead
Accurate and minute measurement seems to the non-scientific imagination, a less lofty and dignified work than looking for something new. But nearly all the grandest discoveries of science have been but the rewards of accurate measurement and patient long-continued labour in the minute sifting of numerical results.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Accurate measurements are crucial for scientific discoveries, even if they seem mundane compared to new ideas.
Lord Kelvin underscores the importance of precision in scientific work, arguing that while the pursuit of new ideas may appear more glamorous, it is often through meticulous measurement and analysis that significant discoveries are made. This highlights the value of patience and attention to detail in the scientific process, suggesting that even small, seemingly insignificant efforts can lead to groundbreaking results.
Themes
MeasurementScienceDiscoveryAccuracyPatience
In practice
Example use cases
In a scientific presentation on the importance of data accuracy, this quote emphasizes the foundational role of measurement.
More from Lord Kelvin
All quotes →We only know God in His works, but we are forced by science to admit and to believe with absolute confidence in a Directive Power-in an influence other than physical, or dynamical, or electrical forces.
Lord KelvinRead
In science there is only physics; all the rest is stamp collecting.
Lord KelvinRead
There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement.
Lord KelvinRead
Let nobody be afraid of true freedom of thought. Let us be free in thought and criticism; but, with freedom, we are bound to come to the conclusion that science is not antagonistic to religion, but a help to it.
Lord KelvinRead
I need scarcely say that the beginning and maintenance of life on earth is absolutely and infinitely beyond the range of all sound speculation in dynamical science. The only contribution of dynamics to theoretical biology is absolute negation of automatic commencement or automatic maintenance of life.
Lord KelvinRead
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