Richard Feynman

Nobel Laureate, Physics

The Meaning of it All, London, Penguin, 2007

"What is science? The word is usually used to mean one of three things, or a mixture of them. I do not think we need to be precise - it is not always a good thing idea to be too precise. Science means, sometimes, a special method of finding things out. Sometimes it means the body of knowledge arising from the things found out. It may also mean the things you can do when you have found something out, or the actual doing of new things." p4-5
Cited by Lennox in Cosmic Chemistry p63.

"The fact that there are rules at all to be checked is a kind of miracle; that it is possible to find a rule, like the inverse square law of gravitation, is some sort of miracle. It is not understood at all, but it leads to the possibility of prediction - that means it tells you what you would expect to happen in an experiment you have not yet done."p 23

"All scientific knowledge is uncertain. This experience with doubt and uncertainty is important. I believe it is of very great value and one that extends beyond the sciences. I believe that to solve any problem that has not beeen solved before, you must leave the door to the unknown ajar. You have to pursue the possibility that you do not have it exactly right. Ohterwise , if ou have made up your mind already, you might not solve it... So what we call scientific knowledge today is a body of knowledge of varying degrees of certainty." p26-27
Cited by Lennox in Cosmic Chemistry p66-67.

"Even the greatest forces and abilities don't seem to carry any clear instructions on how to use them. As an example, the great accumulation of understanding as to how the physical world behaves only convinces me that this behavior has a kind of meaninglessness about it. The sciences do not directly teach good or bad." p32.

"ethical values lie outside the scientific realm." p43.

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,(Cambridge, MA, Perseus Books, 1999)

"As a matter of fact, science can be defined as a method for, and a body of information obtained by, trying to answer only questions which can be put into the form: If I do this, what will happen? The technique of it, fundamentally, is 'Try it and see.' Then you put together a large amount of information from such experiences. All scientists will agree that a question - any question, philosophical or other - which cannot be put into the form that can be tested by experiment .. is not a scientific question; it is outside the realm of science." p255
Cited by Lennox in Cosmic Chemistry p64.