Thomas Henry Huxley? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Benjamin Franklin? John Dougall? John Tyndall? Dear Quote Investigator: An elaborate and magnificent scientific theory can completely collapse if a contradictory fact is uncovered. A prominent scientist called this methodological occurrence one of great tragedies of science. Would you please explore this topic? Quote Investigator: In 1870 biologist …
Tag Archives: Charles Darwin
There Is No God, and Harriet Martineau Is His Prophet
Prophet: Harriet Martineau? William Tweed? John Tyndall? Auguste Comte? Robert G. Ingersoll? Karl Marx? Charles Darwin? Herbert Spencer? Henry George Atkinson? Paul Dirac? Felix Adler? Critic: Mark Twain? Douglas William Jerrold? George Grote? J. P. Jacobsen? Isaac M. Wise? Wolfgang Pauli? Dear Quote Investigator: The prominent physicist Paul Dirac was hostile toward religion, and sometimes …
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Quote Origin: A Blind Man in a Dark Room Looking for a Black Cat That Is Not There
Charles Darwin? Lord Bowen? Confucius? E. R. Pearce? William James? Ralph Waldo Emerson? Anonymous? Question for Quote Investigator: A vivid and comical metaphor has been applied to professions that require abstract and recondite reasoning abilities: A mathematician is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black hat which isn’t there. A metaphysician …
In the Struggle for Survival, the Fittest Win Out at the Expense of Their Rivals
Charles Darwin? History Textbook? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: While reading a newspaper article I saw the following statement attributed to the famous scientist Charles Darwin: In the struggle for survival, the fittest win out at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment. The article cited “On the …
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Quote Origin: It Is Not the Strongest of the Species that Survives But the Most Adaptable
Charles Darwin? Leon C. Megginson? Clarence Darrow? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: The following statement is often attributed to the famous scientist Charles Darwin, but I am skeptical: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. Shortened …
Quote Origin: If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live
Albert Einstein? Charles Darwin? Maurice Maeterlinck? E. O. Wilson? Apocryphal? Question for Quote Investigator: A dramatic quotation about the dangers of environmental upheaval is attributed to the brilliant physicist Albert Einstein. Here are two versions: If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. …
Darwinism: Let Us Hope It is Not True, But If It is, Let Us Pray It Does Not Become Widely Known
Wife of the Bishop of Worcester? Wife of the Bishop of Birmingham? Wife of Samuel Wilberforce? Wife of an English Canon? A Decorous Spinster? Fictional? Dear Quote Investigator: There is a remarkable quotation that dramatically highlights the controversial intersection between science and religion in the nineteenth century. The words were attributed to a Bishop’s wife …
The Creator Has an Inordinate Fondness for Beetles
Charles Darwin? J.B.S. Haldane? Stephen Gould? Apocryphal? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: I have been studying rain forests and came across the following passage in a New York Times article:[ref] 1989 November 25, New York Times, The Editorial Notebook: Burning the Book of Nature by Nicholas Wade, New York. (Online New York Times archive) link[/ref] Charles …
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