Eddington's "mot juste" (was Listening to Leonids)

[Brian Whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 09:05 PM 11/27/01, Hugh Haskell wrote:
> At 17:14 -0800 11/27/01, William Beaty wrote:
> >
> >Was it Bohr who said that he never trusted any experiment until it had
> >been verified by theory?
> >
> No, that was Eddington. The entire quotation is "It is also a good
> rule not to put overmuch confidence in observational results that are
> put forward until they are confirmed by theory." I rather suspect
> that he had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he said it.
> McKay's Dictionary of Scientific Quotations cites the source as an
> article by H. Judson, in the Hew Yorker of 4 December 1978, p. 132. I
> suspect that is a secondary source since it postdates Eddington's
> death by 34 years.
>
> Hugh
> --
>
> Hugh Haskell


Decent web attributions were scarce. Here are a few shining examples,
especially Carlson's complete representation::

EVIDENCE  By Ed Hessler
"It is also a good rule not to put too much confidence in the observational
results that are put forward until they are confirmed by theory."
-Sir Arthur Eddington, 1934 (in Judson, 1980:161)


> > "Observation and theory get on best when they are mixed together, both
helping one another in the pursuit of truth. It is a good rule not to put
overmuch confidence in a theory until it has been confirmed by observation.
 I hope I shall not shock the experimental physicists too much if I add
that  it is also a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in the
observational  results that are put forward until they have been confirmed
by theory."
Sir  Arthur Eddington, "New Pathways in Science," 1935. > >
Glenn A. Carlson, P.E.  glennacarlson@aol.com


Brian Whatcott
  Altus OK                      Eureka!