Those Who Do Not Know

Real Science Exists, Then, Only From The Moment When A Phenomenon Is Accurately Defined As To Its Nature And Rigorously Determined In Relation To Its Material Conditions, That Is, When Its Law Is Known. Before That, We Have Only Groping And Empiricism.

Laplace Considers Astronomy A Science Of Observation, Because We Can Only Observe The Movements Of The Planets; We Cannot Reach Them, Indeed, To Alter Their Course And To Experiment With Them. "on Earth," Said Laplace, "we Make Phenomena Vary By Experiments; In The Sky, We Carefully Define All The Phenomena Presented To Us By Celestial Motion." Certain Physicians Call Medicine A Science Of Observations, Because They Wrongly Think That Experimentation Is Inapplicable To It.

The Physiologist Is Not A Man Of The World, He Is A Scientist, A Man Caught And Absorbed By A Scientific Idea That He Pursues; He No Longer Hears The Cries Of The Animals, No Longer Sees The Flowing Blood, He Sees Only His Idea: Organisms That Hide From Him Problems That He Wants To Discover. He Doesn't Feel That He Is In A Horrible Carnage; Under The Influence Of A Scientific Idea, He Pursues With Delight A Nervous Filament Inside Stinking And Livid Flesh That For Any Other Person Would Be An Object Of Disgust And Horror.

Even Mistaken Hypotheses And Theories Are Of Use In Leading To Discoveries. This Remark Is True In All The Sciences. The Alchemists Founded Chemistry By Pursuing Chimerical Problems And Theories Which Are False. In Physical Science, Which Is More Advanced Than Biology, We Might Still Cite Men Of Science Who Make Great Discoveries By Relying On False Theories.

Men Who Believe Too Firmly In Their Theories, Do Not Believe Enough In The Theories Of Others. So ... These Despisers Of Their Fellows ... Make Experiments Only To Destroy A Theory, Instead Of To Seek The Truth.