A Quote by Ernest Rutherford

A good scientific theory should be explicable to a barmaid.

Ernest Rutherford

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Good Scientific Scientific Theory Should Theory

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Ernest Rutherford
New Zealander - Scientist
August 30, 1871 - October 19, 1937

A theory is only as good as its assumptions. If the premises are false, the theory has no real scientific value. The only scientific criterion for judging the validity of a scientific theory is a confrontation with the data of experience.

Maurice Allais

Well, it [evolution] is a theory, it is a scientific theory only, and it has in recent years been challenged in the world of science and is not yet believed in the scientific community to be as infallible as it once was believed. But if it was going to be taught in the schools, then I think that also the biblical theory of creation, which is not a theory but the biblical story of creation, should also be taught.

Ronald Reagan

To be sure, Darwin's theory of evolution is imperfect. However, the fact that a scientific theory cannot yet render an explanation on every point should not be used as a pretext to thrust an untestable alternative hypothesis grounded in religion into the science classroom or to misrepresent well-established scientific propositions.

Jon Jones

An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.

Ernest Rutherford

It is easy to obtain confirmations, or verifications, for nearly every theory-if we look for confirmations. Confirmations should count only if they are the result of risky predictions... A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice. Every genuine test of a theory is an attempt to falsify it, or refute it.

Karl Popper

My provocative statement is that we desperately need a serious, scientific theory of cities and scientific theory means quantifiable, relying on underlying generic principles that can be made in a - put into a predictive framework. That's the quest.

Geoffrey West

It is sometimes said that we should never believe a scientific theory until it is verified by experiment. But a famous astronomer has also stated that we should never believe an observation until it is confirmed by a theory.

Joao Magueijo

Society would not tolerate legislation declaring that the theory that the sun circles the earth be given equal time with the theory of a heliocentric solar system; it should not pay attention to the equally preposterous notions of scientific creationism

Robert E. Ornstein

There are two ways of forming an opinion. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all-important, and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything, and facts are junked when they do not fit theory.

Robert A. Heinlein

It should be possible to explain the laws of physics to a barmaid.

Albert Einstein

If you can't think of an observation that could disprove a theory, that theory simply isn't scientific.

Jerry A. Coyne

No particular theory may ever be regarded as absolutely certain.... No scientific theory is sacrosanct.

Karl Popper

When I was in high school, I was really into string theory and superstring theory and read 'Scientific American.' It's fascinating.

Sam Trammell

Theory is the essence of facts. Without theory scientific knowledge would be only worthy of the madhouse.

Oliver Heaviside

The theory of evolution, like the theory of gravity, is a scientific fact.

Neil deGrasse Tyson

A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice.

Karl Popper

A Quote by Ernest Rutherford

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