A theory should not attempt to explain all the facts, because some of the facts are wrong
Interpretation
Scientific theories should be flexible and not rigidly account for every observation, especially when some observations may be incorrect.
Francis Crick emphasizes that while developing a scientific theory, it is important to recognize that not all observed facts are trustworthy or accurate. Therefore, a good theory should accommodate the possibility of errors in observations rather than trying to explain every detail, as doing so can lead to flawed conclusions and misguided scientific understanding.
In practice
In a discussion about the scientific method, one might use this quote to illustrate the importance of skepticism in research.
One can say, looking at the papers in this symposium, that the elucidation of the genetic code is indeed a great achievement. It is, in a sense, the key to molecular biology because it shows how the great polymer languages, the nucleic acid language and the protein language, are linked together.
Exact knowledge is the enemy of vitalism.
It is essential to understand our brains in some detail if we are to assess correctly our place in this vast and complicated universe we see all around us.
To produce a really good biological theory one must try to see through the clutter produced by evolution to the basic mechanisms lying beneath them, realizing that they are likely to be overlaid by other, secondary mechanisms. What seems to physicists to be a hopelessly complicated process may have been what nature found simplest, because nature could only build on what was already there.
It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material.
In the fullness of time, educated people will believe there is no soul independent of the body, and hence no life after death.
Science has a culture that is inherently cautious and that is normally not a bad thing. You could even say conservative, because of the peer review process and because the scientific method prizes uncertainty and penalises anyone who goes out on any sort of a limb that is not held in place by abundant and well-documented evidence.
Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle.
I fell in love with the elegance and precision of genetic analysis and experimentation to answer profound biological questions.
I have experimental evidence that time travel is not possible.
What is it that keeps you so interested in the telomere? It's so intricate and complicated, and you want to know how it works.
Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don't look alike are really the same. That is one of their innermost Freudian motivations. In fact, that is what we mean by understanding.
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