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John W. Campbell, Jr.
(8 Jun 1910 - 11 Jul 1971)
American writer whose first science fiction story, When Atoms Failed, was published in Amazing Stories (Jan 1931). He edited Astounding Science Fiction magazine from 1937.
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Science Quotes by John W. Campbell, Jr. (2 quotes)
Man studied birds for centuries, trying to learn how to make a machine to fly like them. He never did do the trick; his final success came when he broke away entirely and tried new methods.
— John W. Campbell, Jr.
Published under the name Don A. Stuart, 'Who Goes There?', Astounding Stories (Aug 1938). In Robert Silverberg, Ben Bova and Science Fiction Writers of America, The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (1973), Vol. 2, 62.
Science is not a sacred cow—but there are a large number of would-be sacred cowherds busily devoting quantities of time, energy and effort to the task of making it one, so they can be sacred cowherds.
— John W. Campbell, Jr.
From 'Introduction', to Prologue to Analog (1962).
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) -- 
