Asimov on Scientific Discovery
“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ [I’ve found it!], but ‘That’s funny.’
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“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ [I’ve found it!], but ‘That’s funny.’
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I recently read Margalit Fox’s wonderful book, “The Riddle of the Labyrinth,” which tells the extraordinary tale of how three people, working in parallel, figured out the meaning of what, to me, look like random scribbles on ancient tablets – the language known as Linear B. In trying to deduce the riddle of these scribbles,…
Oscar Wilde is one of the most quotable people in history of the English language. He even had ideas about robots, many decades before people had any idea what robots could achieve. And in typical Wildean fashion, he provocatively tied it together with his attitudes on the advantages of slavery: “Unless there are slaves to…
Upon the death of his wife, Thomas Jefferson went into a deep depression. In crushing words, he described his state of mind to his sister-in-law, in a sentence that could be placed in psychiatric manuals next to a definition of depression: “All my plans of comfort and happiness reversed by a single event and nothing…
The facts seem indisputable. After a courageous battle against cancer, Lance Armstrong inspired millions of people – bike aficionados and those who don’t know a pelleton from a crouton – by winning the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times in a row. As one of the millions who have been inspired by Lance –…
I do not pretend to have consistent, easily categorized political views. That’s why I call myself a “flaming moderate.” But one attitude I hold pretty consistently is suspicion of concentrated power—in government, in industry, and especially in government and industry! That’s why I felt a kindred spirit in Teddy Roosevelt, as quoted in Morris’s amazing…
“When many remedies are proposed for a disease, that means the disease is incurable.” -Anton Chekhov (Click here to view comments)