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Tobias George Smollett
(19 Mar 1721 - 17 Sep 1771)
Scottish author and physician noted for his picaresque novels and satire. In his writings, he drew on his experiences from his early career as a surgeon's mate in the Royal Navy aboard the H.M.S. Chichester..
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Science Quotes by Tobias George Smollett (2 quotes)
A mere index hunter, who held the eel of science by the tail.
— Tobias George Smollett
In Peregrine Pickle xlii (1779), II, 57. Reference from The Oxford English Dictionary. Index-hunter is a term used mockingly, meaning one who acquires superficial knowledge merely by consulting indexes. The “[holding] the eel of science by the tail” allusion was used in 1728 by Alexander Pope (q.v.).
Facts are stubborn things
— Tobias George Smollett
Translation of Alain René Le Sage's The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane (1715-35, trans.1749), Book 10, Chap. 1, Also used by Jared Eliot in Essay on Field Husbandry (1747), 35.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) --
Carl Sagan
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