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Thomas Jefferson (13 Apr 1743 - 4 Jul 1826) American statesman, astronomer, scholar and inventor who wrote the Declaration of Independence (1776) and organized the Lewis and Clark expedition (1803). His only full-length book, Notes on the State of Virginia contains an outline of the geography, flora and fauna of Virginia, and established his reputation as a scholar and a pioneering American scientist. Short biography of Thomas Jefferson >>

Thomas Jefferson
“To indulge in the rich fields of nature”

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“To indulge in the rich fields of nature, where alone I should have served as a volunteer, if left to my natural inclinations and partialties.”

— Thomas Jefferson

In letter to Caspar Wistar (1807)

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While serving as the U.S. President (1801–1809), Thomas Jefferson reflected on his abiding enthusiasm for natural history in a letter to Caspar Wistar. Jefferson began the letter, dated 21 Jun 1807, by complimenting the city of Philadephia (where Wistar was a physician and professor of anatomy), for having good facilities to teach his oldest grandson. (The fifteen-year-old teenager, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, was the second child of his daughter, Martha Jefferson and her husband Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr.) Thomas Jefferson was taking “a lively interest” in his education. “We propose, therefore, to send him to Philadelphia to attend the schools of Botany, Natural History, Anatomy, and perhaps Surgery; but not of Medicine.” Then Jefferson revealed that although he respected the study of anatomy, he was sceptical of the practice of medicine with its potions and purgatives.

In the remainder of the letter, Jefferson explained his concerns at length, which he concluded somewhat apologetically to his knowledgeable friend, Professor Wistar, thus:

Jefferson signed his letter, saying, “I salute you at all times with affection and respect.”

Read the full letter in Thomas Jefferson on Quack Medicine >>

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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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