“Guessing right for the wrong reason does not merit scientific immortality.”
"The Godfather of Disaster", p. 379
Bully for Brontosaurus (1991)
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Stephen Jay Gould274
American evolutionary biologist 1941–2002Related quotes
“Majorities are generally wrong, if only in their reasons for being right.”
George Saintsbury (1845–1933) British literary critic
Source: A Last Vintage, p. 172.
“An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”
Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937) New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist
As quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement (1973) by G. J. Whitrow, p. 42
Variants:
If you can't explain your physics to a barmaid it is probably not very good physics.
As quoted in Journal of Advertising Research (March-April 1998)
A theory that you can't explain to a bartender is probably no damn good.
As quoted in The Language of God (2006) by Francis Collins, p. 60
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist
From 1980s onwards, Cosmography (1992)
“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.”
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist
