“In the most general mathematical sense, a space is a set of elements which conform to certain postulates.”

Source: Living Systems: Basic Concepts (1969), p. 51

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James Grier Miller 24
biologist 1916–2002

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“Of course, we must avoid postulating a new element for each new phenomenon. But an equally serious mistake is to admit into the theory only those elements which can now be observed.”

David Bohm (1917–1992) American theoretical physicist

Context: Of course, we must avoid postulating a new element for each new phenomenon. But an equally serious mistake is to admit into the theory only those elements which can now be observed. For the purpose of a theory is not only to correlate the results of observations that we already know how to make, but also to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results. In fact, the better a theory is able to suggest the need for new kinds of observations and to predict their results correctly, the more confidence we have that this theory is likely to be good representation of the actual properties of matter and not simply an empirical system especially chosen in such a way as to correlate a group of already known facts.

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