Men Who Believe Too Firmly In Their

Men Who Have Excessive Faith In Their Theories ... Make Poor Observations, Because They Choose Among The Results Of Their Experiments Only What Suits Their Object, Neglecting Whatever Is Unrelated To It And Carefully Setting Aside Everything Which Might Tend Toward The Idea They Wish To Combat

Laplace Considers Astronomy A Science Of Observation, Because We Can Only Observe The Movements Of The Planets; We Cannot Reach Them, Indeed, To Alter Their Course And To Experiment With Them. "on Earth," Said Laplace, "we Make Phenomena Vary By Experiments; In The Sky, We Carefully Define All The Phenomena Presented To Us By Celestial Motion." Certain Physicians Call Medicine A Science Of Observations, Because They Wrongly Think That Experimentation Is Inapplicable To It.

In The Philosophic Sense, Observation Shows And Experiment Teaches.

Science Increases Our Power In Proportion As It Lowers Our Pride.

Real Science Exists, Then, Only From The Moment When A Phenomenon Is Accurately Defined As To Its Nature And Rigorously Determined In Relation To Its Material Conditions, That Is, When Its Law Is Known. Before That, We Have Only Groping And Empiricism.