Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.
Charles DarwinRead
I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science....It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Darwin acknowledges that his theories may not be fully supported by empirical evidence and are imperfect.
In this quote, Charles Darwin reflects on the tentative nature of his hypotheses regarding evolution. He admits that while his ideas have merit, they are riddled with flaws and uncertainties, highlighting the importance of continual questioning and refinement in the pursuit of scientific understanding.
Themes
ScienceHypothesisUncertaintyTheoryEvolution
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on the nature of scientific inquiry, one might say this quote to illustrate the tentative character of scientific knowledge.
More from Charles Darwin
All quotes βThe highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.
Charles DarwinRead
We cannot fathom the marvelous complexity of an organic being; but on the hypothesis here advanced this complexity is much increased. Each living creature must be looked at as a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and as numerous as the stars in heaven.
Charles DarwinRead
I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term of Natural Selection.
Charles DarwinRead
we are always slow in admitting any great change of which we do not see the intermediate steps
Charles DarwinRead
I am not the least afraid to die
Charles DarwinRead
Similar quotes
The magnitude of the atomic weight determines the character of the element, just as the magnitude of the molecule determines the character of a compound body.
Dmitri MendeleevRead
When the dog is repeatedly teased with the sight of objects inducing salivary secretion from a distance, the reaction of the salivary glands grows weaker and weaker and finally drops to zero.
Ivan PavlovRead
In less than eight years "The Origin of Species" has produced conviction in the minds of a majority of the most eminent living men of science. New facts, new problems, new difficulties as they arise are accepted, solved, or removed by this theory; and its principles are illustrated by the progress and conclusions of every well established branch of human knowledge.
Alfred Russel WallaceRead
Mathematics deals exclusively with the relations of concepts to each other without consideration of their relation to experience.
Albert EinsteinRead
Instead of planning the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, America should be preparing the shuttles for their next step in space: evolving, not shutting them down and laying off thousands of people.
Buzz AldrinRead
If you go into science, I think you better go in with a dream that maybe you, too, will get a Nobel Prize. It's not that I went in and I thought I was very bright and I was going to get one, but I'll confess, you know, I knew what it was.
James D. WatsonRead