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William H. George
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English physicist whose special interests were X-ray crystallography, the scientific method, and acoustics (music, speech and noise). In 1938, he published The Scientist in Action: A Scientific Study of His Methods.
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Science Quotes by William H. George (5 quotes)
Even with men of genius, with whom the birth rate of hypotheses is very high, it only just manages to exceed the death rate.
— William H. George
Stated in narrative form, without quotation marks, in W.I.B. Beveridge, The Art of Scientific Investigation (1957), 60.
Most American citizens think that life without the telephone is scarcely worth living. The American public telephone system is therefore enormous. Moreover the system belongs to an organization, the Bell companies, which can both control it and make the equipment needed. There is no surer way of getting efficient functional design than having equipment designed by an organization which is going to have to use it. Humans who would have to live with their own mistakes tend to think twice and to make fewer mistakes.
— William H. George
In 'Musical Acoustics Today', New Scientist (1 Nov 1962), 16 No. 311, 256.
Science is measurement. If I cannot make measurements, I cannot study a problem scientifically.
— William H. George
In 'Musical Acoustics Today', New Scientist (1 Nov 1962), 16 No. 311, 257.
Scientific research is not itself a science; it is still an art or craft.
— William H. George
In The Scientist in Action: A Scientific Study of His Methods (1938), 29.
To the Victorian scientist, science was the pursuit of truth about Nature. In imagination, each new truth discovered could be ticked off on a list kept perhaps in a celestial planning office, so reducing by one the total number of truths to be discovered. But the practising scientist now knows that he is dealing with a living, growing thing. His task is never done.
— William H. George
Opening remark in article 'Musical Acoustics Today', New Scientist (1 Nov 1962), 16 No. 311, 256.
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) -- 
