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Quotation from Novum Organon Renovatum by William Whewell
“The process of scientific discovery is cautious and rigorous, not by abstaining from hypotheses, but by rigorously comparing hypotheses with facts, and by resolutely rejecting all which the comparison does not confirm.”
Novum Organon Renovatum, Book II, ch. V, Aphorism X (Project Gutenberg text (3rd ed., 1858))
Whewell's defence of hypotheses against those who equated caution with avoiding them.
Citation: "The process of scientific discovery is cautious and rigorous, not by abstaining from hypotheses, but by rigorously comparing hypotheses with facts, and by resolutely rejecting all which the comparison does not confirm." — William Whewell, Novum Organon Renovatum, Book II, ch. V, Aphorism X (Project Gutenberg text (3rd ed., 1858)). (id whewell-novum-organon-renovatum-q3)
Portrait: W Whewell slnsw, Ernest Edwards, Public domain.
