Facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts do not go away while scientists debate rival theories for explaining them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's, but apples did not suspend themselves in mid-air pending the outcome. ✨ Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History. Book by Stephen Jay Gould. Evolution as Fact and Theory, pp. 254 - 55, 1983.
More Author Quotes
- We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not be … ▶
- All science is intelligent inference; excessive literalism is delusion, not a humble bowing to evidence. ✨ Stephen Jay Gould (1995). Dinosaur in a haystack: reflections in natural history, Harmony
- Evolution has encountered no intellectual trouble; no new arguments have been offered. Creationism is a home-grown phenomenon of American sociocultural history-a splinter movement ... who believe tha … ▶
- Odd arrangements and funny solutions are the proof of evolution - paths that a sensible God would never tread but that a natural process, constrained by history, follows perforce.
- With copious evidence ranging from Plato's haughtiness to Beethoven's tirades, we may conclude that the most brilliant people of history tend to be a prickly lot.
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