Feynman on scientific method

Posted: December 31, 2010 by tallbloke in solar system dynamics

The great man himself reminds us how science should be conducted.

CLick ‘play’ on the embedded video in the first comment below.
H/t to ‘Hoi Polloi’ for this great vintage video link

Let’s have your favourite quotes in comments below.

Comments
  1. tallbloke says:
    December 31, 2010 at 11:32 am

  2. tallbloke says:
    December 31, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    “Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”
    – Albert Einstein

  3. Adolfo Giurfa says:
    December 31, 2010 at 6:37 pm

    That is true….as far as “empireia”; however we should not forget the principles. Remember: The Devil is in the details….and there is not yet neither an Angel or a statistical analysis of any kind which could prevent us from drowining deep in them. Just remember how many years and how many people are entangled by the changing winds of the atmosphere and in the balance of LWR . It is like being in a labyrinth while having the possibility of seeing the way out from above and chosing not to do it.

  4. tallbloke says:
    January 1, 2011 at 2:11 am

    Happy New Year Adolfo. 🙂

  5. cementafriend says:
    January 1, 2011 at 6:05 am

    Can’t think of a quote at present.
    As an engineer I need to always understand the errors in sampling, measurement and testing before accepting the results of experimentation. It appears or should appear that engineers take a different approach to scientists. They build or test first, then develop a theory using mathematics or statistics, extend the theory to wider application and test again. They build pilot plants and physical models for testing. The professional engineer always knows something may go wrong. He puts in safety factors, set out his workings (eg load limits, probabilities of earthquakes, floods, contamination etc) and gives risk assessments both physical and monetary.
    Anyway Happy and Healthy New Year to you Tallbloke and all other contributors to this site.
    cementafriend in a wet part of the world.

  6. David says:
    January 2, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    tallbloke says:
    December 31, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    Your quote reminded me of another, ” In shallow men the fish of little thoughts cause much commotion. In oceanic minds the whales of inspiration make hardly a ruffle.” Sri Yukteswar Giri

  7. Steve Fox says:
    January 4, 2011 at 8:19 pm

    Another from Einstein, (by memory), responding to ‘refutation’ of relativity by 100 or so Nazi scientists,
    ‘If I was wrong, one would have been enough’.
    I looked for a Feynman quote I remember seeing but couldn’t find it, so again roughly, from memory,
    ‘In science the hardest thing you have to do is not fool yourself. When you’ve done that, conventional honesty will keep you from fooling others.’

  8. tallbloke says:
    January 5, 2011 at 1:23 am

    Good reminder Steve:

    “I would like to add something that’s not essential to the science, but something I kind of believe, which is that you should not fool the laymen when you’re talking as a scientist. . . . I’m talking about a specific, extra type of integrity that is not lying, but bending over backwards to show how you’re maybe wrong, [an integrity] that you ought to have when acting as a scientist. And this is our responsibility as scientists, certainly to other scientists, and I think to laymen.”