No individual is alone responsible for a single stepping stone along the path of progress, and where the path is smooth progress is most rapid.
Ernest LawrenceRead
I am mindful that scientific achievement is rooted in the past, is cultivated to full stature by many contemporaries and flourishes only in favorable environment. No individual is alone responsible for a single stepping stone along the path of progress, and where the path is smooth progress is most rapid. In my own work this has been particularly true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Scientific progress is a collective effort that thrives in a supportive environment.
In this quote, Ernest Lawrence emphasizes that scientific achievements are not the result of individual efforts alone, but rather the culmination of collaborative work built on the foundation of past knowledge. He highlights the importance of a conducive environment for such achievements to flourish, suggesting that teamwork and shared resources accelerate progress in science.
Themes
ScienceProgressCollaborationAchievementEnvironment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a scientific conference to emphasize collaboration in research.
More from Ernest Lawrence
All quotes →Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere; and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere men are laughing; and little children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville- great Casey has struck out.
Ernest LawrenceRead
Certainly, it may bring to light such a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter as to constitute a veritable discontinuity in the progress of science.
Ernest LawrenceRead
From the beginning of the Radiation Laboratory, I have had the rare good fortune of being in the center of a group of men of high ability, enthusiastic and completely devoted to scientific pursuits.
Ernest LawrenceRead
In the Radiation Laboratory we count it a privilege to do everything we can to assist our medical colleagues in the application of these new tools to the problems of human suffering.
Ernest LawrenceRead
We have reached the age, those of us to whom fortune has assigned a post in life's struggle, when beaten and smashed and biffed by the lashing of the dragon's tail, we begin to appreciate that the old man was not such a fool after all. We saw our parents wrestling with the same dragon, and we thought, though we never spoke a thought aloud, 'Why doesn't he hit him on the head?' Alas, comrads, we know now. We have hit the dragon on the head and we have seen the dragon smile.
Ernest LawrenceRead
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[M]y work, which I've done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a craving after knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And therewithal, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious people might be informed thereof.
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Science - or the products of science like technology - is just a way of achieving something real, something that happens, something that works.
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