Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
Donald JohansonRead
And what I wanted to do was, I wanted to explore problems and areas where we didn't have answers. In fact, where we didn't even know the right questions to ask.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of curiosity and the quest for knowledge in unexplored areas.
Donald Johanson highlights the value of exploration and inquiry in fields where understanding is lacking, suggesting that the pursuit of knowledge often begins with recognizing our own ignorance. This mindset encourages open-mindedness and fosters innovation as it focuses on addressing unanswered questions and discovering new possibilities.
In practice
A scientist giving a lecture on the importance of curiosity in research.
Evolution is a fact. It is the best explanation of what is known from observations. It's a theory as powerful as the theory of gravity.
When I realized, in 1978, that Lucy did represent a new species of human ancestor, and that I had an opportunity to name this new species, I realized this was a revolutionary step in understanding human origins.
Where we are going as a species is a big question. Human evolution certainly hasn't stopped. Every time individuals produce a new zygote, there's a reshuffling and recombination of genes. And we don't know where all of that is going to take us.
I think that many of my ideas are correct, but I'll bet you, before my death other discoveries will be made that will prompt me to alter various ideas I have about human evolution.
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it.
Scientists study the world as it is, engineers create the world that never has been.
Doctors, dressed up in one professional costume or another, have been in busy practice since the earliest records of every culture on earth. It is hard to think of a more dependable or enduring occupation, harder still to imagine any future events leading to its extinction.
We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.
Science, my lad, has been built upon many errors; but they are errors which it was good to fall into, for they led to the truth.
I can now state that I have succeeded in operating a motive device by means of [cosmic rays]. I will tell you in the most general way, the cosmic ray ionizes the air, setting free many charges - ions and electrons. These charges are captured in a condenser which is made to discharge through the circuit of the motor.
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