Hanson, Norwood Russell

"A scientist wedded to a theory cannot see what contradicts it."

"The history of science teaches us that our certainties are tomorrow's curiosities."

"Understanding requires us to abandon the comfort of established categories."

"What we call objectivity is often merely consensus among the convinced."

"The conceptual schemes of one age may be the prejudices of another."

"Scientific method is not a guarantee of truth, but a discipline of doubt."

"To observe the world, we must first construct a framework within which observation makes sense."

"The burden of proof always falls upon those who would overturn established belief."

"Language shapes thought, and thought shapes what we can see."

"Every experiment is a conversation with nature, conducted in the language of theory."

"The greatest discoveries often come from questioning what everyone else takes for granted."

"Facts are not found; they are made through the active engagement of mind with world."

"The history of failed theories is as instructive as the history of successful ones."

"What we see when we look at the world depends on what we are looking for."

"Scientific progress is not a straight line but a spiral of refinement and revision."

"The scientist must be both skeptical of others' claims and humble about their own."

"To understand a phenomenon is not to control it, but to see it in relation to other phenomena."

"The problem is not that we have too many theories, but that we are enslaved by the ones we have."

"What counts as an explanation changes as our theoretical needs change."

"The history of science is littered with the corpses of plausible hypotheses."

"To see is to interpret; to interpret is to presuppose a framework."

"Innovation requires not just cleverness but a willingness to entertain the absurd."

"The observer and the observed are not independent; they are woven together in the act of observation."

"What we believe about the world constrains what we can discover about it."

"The language of science is always provisional, always open to revision."

"To understand why a belief was held is not to excuse it, but to learn from it."

"Every fact exists within a web of theories; isolated facts are meaningless."

"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance but false knowledge."

"What we call progress in science is often simply a shift in what questions we ask."

"The history of ideas shows that today's revolution is tomorrow's orthodoxy."