“Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage - at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.”

— Carl Sagan

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it reall…" by Carl Sagan?

Carl Sagan 365

American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science ed… 1934–1996

Related quotes

“Our perceptions may be distorted by training and prejudice or merely because of the limitations of our sense organs, which, of course, perceive directly but a small fraction of the phenomena of the world. Even so straightforward a question as whether in the absence of friction a pound of lead falls faster than a gram of fluff was answered incorrectly by Aristotle and almost everyone else before the time of Galileo. Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage—at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.”

Carl Sagan book Broca's Brain

Source: Broca's Brain (1979), Chapter , “” (pp. 15-16)

“Challenging the conventional wisdom is the way to make waves in science.”

James E. Lovelock (1919) independent scientist, environmentalist and futurist

[James Lovelock: Challenge the dogma! (Web of Stories), YouTube, 6 August 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA8FbEHsgus]

“My experiences with science led me to God. They challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we really light a candle to see the sun?”

Wernher von Braun (1912–1977) German, later an American, aerospace engineer and space architect

From a letter to the California State board of Education (14 September 1972)

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready.”

Paulo Coelho book The Devil and Miss Prym

Source: The Devil and Miss Prym‎ [O Demônio e a srta Prym] (2000), p. x; this has also been misquoted as "A moment is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny."
Context: When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.

“It is courage based on confidence, not daring, and it is confidence based on experience.”

Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Inventor of polio vaccine

On testing his vaccine against polio on himself, his wife, and his three sons (9 May 1955)

“The courage to cooperate or initiate are based entirely on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as the divine mind within you tells you the truth is. It really does require a courage and a self-disciplining to go along with that truth.”

Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist

From 1980s onwards, Only Integrity is Going to Count (1983)

“Wisdom, compassion, and courage are the three universally recognized moral qualities of men.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

“Many people today believe that cynicism requires courage. Actually, cynicism is the height of cowardice. It is innocence and open-heartedness that requires the true courage -- however often we are hurt as a result of it.”

Erica Jong (1942) Novelist, poet, memoirist, critic

How to Save Your Own Life (1977)

“Learning science means learning to talk science… Talking science means observing, describing, comparing, classifying, analysing, discussing, hypothesizing, theorizing, questioning, challenging, arguing, designing experiments, following procedures, judging, evaluating, deciding, concluding, generalizing, reporting … in and through the language of science.”

Jay Lemke (1946) American academic

Source: Talking Science: Language, Learning, and Values. 1990, p. 1; as cited in: Bernard Laplante, "Teaching science to language minority students in elementary classrooms." NYSABE Journal 12 (1997): 62-83.

“Experience, the universal Mother of Sciences.”

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright

Source: Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605–1615), Part I, Book III, Ch. 7.

“Science is based on experiment, on a willingness to challenge old dogma, on an openness to see the universe as it really is. Accordingly, science sometimes requires courage - at the very least the courage to question the conventional wisdom.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Carl Sagan 365

Related quotes

Related topics