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Quotation from A System of Logic, Book III: Of Induction by John Stuart Mill
“The ellipse was in the facts before Kepler recognized it; just as the island was an island before it had been sailed round.”
A System of Logic, Book III: Of Induction, Book III, Ch. II, § 4 (8th ed. (New York: Harper, 1882); Project Gutenberg text)
Mill's reply to Whewell's claim that Kepler added the conception of an ellipse to the observations.
Citation: "The ellipse was in the facts before Kepler recognized it; just as the island was an island before it had been sailed round." — John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Book III: Of Induction, Book III, Ch. II, § 4 (8th ed. (New York: Harper, 1882); Project Gutenberg text). (id mill-system-of-logic-book-iii-q4)
Portrait: John Stuart Mill by London Stereoscopic Company, c1870, London Stereoscopic Company, Public domain.
