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Kenneth Ewart Boulding (18 Jan 1910 - 18 Mar 1993) British-American economist, philosopher and peace activist who is internationally known, and wrote several books. After a few years teaching at the Universtity of Edinburgh, he moved in 1937 to the U.S. He advocated an ecological approach to economics.

Kenneth Ewart Boulding - DNA …. Xerox Machine

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“DNA was the first three-dimensional Xerox machine.”

— Kenneth Ewart Boulding

'Energy and the Environment' (Jan 1976)

More Kenneth Ewart Boulding quotes on science >>

Context of Kenneth Boulding's “DNA … Xerox Machine” quote

With an excellent secondary education at a college preparation school, Kenneth Boulding won a Chemistry scholarship to Oxford University, though after a year he switched to the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He became not only an extraordinary economist, but also his diversity of interests as an interdisciplinary scholar enabled him to contribute valuable insights to diverse subjects such as ecology, biology, human behavior, ethics and general system theory. Thus it is no surprise to add he also served a term as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1980).

The above quote about DNA comes from Boulding's paper 'Energy and the Environment' first presented in Jan 1976 at Laramie College of Commerce and Industry, University of Wyoming. It is one of many examples of his wit collected and edited by his former student Richard P. Beilock in Illustrating Economics: Beasts, Ballads and Boulderisms. (In a later paperback edition, the word “Boulderisms” in the title was changed to “Aphorisms.”)

As the collection in that book shows, Boulding was not one to produce dry texts on economics or his other interests. He laced his writings with wit, extraordinary imagery and the musings of one of the most original and versatile minds of the twentieth century.

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: 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) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)

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