"All science is either physics or stamp collecting"
- Ernest Rutherford
About this Quote
This quote by Ernest Rutherford is a method of revealing the idea that all clinical understanding can be divided into 2 classifications: physics and stamp collecting. By comparing science to mark gathering, Rutherford is recommending that some scientific knowledge is more valuable than others. He is implying that physics is the most essential and valuable form of scientific understanding, while stamp gathering is a less valuable form of knowledge. This quote is also a method of expressing the concept that clinical understanding should be pursued for its own sake, rather than for any useful purpose. Rutherford is recommending that the pursuit of knowledge should be done for its own sake, and not for any practical purpose. He is indicating that the pursuit of knowledge ought to be provided for its own sake, and not for any useful purpose. This quote is a reminder that clinical knowledge must be pursued for its own sake, and not for any practical purpose.
"But in Christianity, by contrast, the freedom of the children of God was also freedom from all important worldly interests, from all art and science, etc"
"I think philosophers can do things akin to theoretical scientists, in that, having read about empirical data, they too can think of what hypotheses and theories might account for that data. So there's a continuity between philosophy and science in that way"