Unsatisfactory Quotes (4 quotes)
All interpretations made by a scientist are hypotheses, and all hypotheses are tentative. They must forever be tested and they must be revised if found to be unsatisfactory. Hence, a change of mind in a scientist, and particularly in a great scientist, is not only not a sign of weakness but rather evidence for continuing attention to the respective problem and an ability to test the hypothesis again and again.
The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution and Inheritance (1982), 831.
One [idea] was that the Universe started its life a finite time ago in a single huge explosion, and that the present expansion is a relic of the violence of this explosion. This big bang idea seemed to me to be unsatisfactory even before detailed examination showed that it leads to serious difficulties.
In radio talk on the BBC Third Programme, as subsequently printed in the BBC’s The Listener magazine (9 Mar 1950), Vol.43, 420. This was his further use of the term “big bang” that he first expressed in a radio talk on 28 Mar 1949.
Psychology is a very unsatisfactory science.
In Principles Of Gestalt Psychology (1935), 22. Note: the same statement appears as an epigraph, attributed to Wolfgang Köhler, in Francis Crick, The Astonishing Hypothesis: the Scientific Search for the Soul (1995), 71. In turn, this source has been cited in works by others, also attributing the quote to Köhler. Perhaps that is a mis-attribution, or if stated by Köhler, he may have only echoed Koffka. Contact Webmaster if you know a primary source by Köhler that predates Koffka.
The barrenness of doubt had to make itself felt before it could be supplanted by knowledge. It was not until Hume, by carrying scepticism to its uttermost extent, had shown its unsatisfactory character and vain results, that the germs of scientific method, implanted by Bacon and Descartes, could develop and bear fruit in the positive philosophy of Comte.
In 'Mr. Buckle’s Fallacies', Darwinism and Other Essays (1893), 190.
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) -- 
