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Sir William Siemens
(4 Apr 1823 - 18 Nov 1883)
German-English engineer and inventor.
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Science Quotes by Sir William Siemens (2 quotes)
George Stephenson, with a sagacity of mind in advance of the science of his day, answered, when asked what was the ultimate cause of motion of his locomotive engine, ‘that it went by the bottled-up rays of the sun.’
— Sir William Siemens
From 'Fuel', Lecture delivered to the British Association at Bradford, printed in Nature (25 Sep 1873), 8, 443.
Such startling announcements as these should be deprecated as being unworthy of science and mischievous to its true progress.
— Sir William Siemens
(1880), commenting on the manner in which Edison announced a successful light bulb. In Charles William Siemens and Edward Fisher Bamber (ed.), The Scientific Works of C. William Siemens: A Collection of Addresses, lectures, etc. (1889), Vol. 3, 221.
Quotes by others about Sir William Siemens (1)
“Corruptio optimi pessima!”
Grinned Sir Henry Bessemer.
“Judicio vulgi demens!”
Snorted Sir William Siemens.
Grinned Sir Henry Bessemer.
“Judicio vulgi demens!”
Snorted Sir William Siemens.
Edmund Clerihew Bentley, Biography for Beginners (1905). Collected in Biography for Beginners, 1905. Collected in Complete Clerihews (2008), 11. The two Latin phrases are only chosen to rhyme with the names. In fact they mean, in order, “The corruption of the best is the worst of all” and “Mad in the judgment of the mob.”
See also:
- 4 Apr - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of Siemens's birth.
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) -- 
