Lewis Wolpert Quotes

There is zero evidence for god.

When it was suggested to Pasteur that many of his great achievements depended on luck, he replied - I'm sure with more than a little irritation - 'In the field of observation in science, fortune only favours the prepared mind.' It is not by chance that it is always the great scientists who have the luck.

The physics of motion provides one of the clearest examples of the counter-intuitive and unexpected nature of science.

I regard it as ethically unacceptable and impractical to censor any aspect of trying to understand the nature of our world.

Depression is sadness gone wrong

It is not birth, marriage, or death, but gastrulation which is truly the most important time in your life.

The image of the disinterested, dispassionate scientist is no less false than that of the mad scientist who is willing to destroy the world for knowledge.

I would teach the world that science is the best way to understand the world and that for any set of observations, there is only one correct explanation. Also, science is value-free, as it explains the world as it is. Ethical issues arise only when science is applied to technology - from medicine to industry.

I strongly hold that, if an idea fits with common sense, then scientifically it is almost certain to be false.

Reliable scientific knowledge is value free and has no moral or ethical value. Science tells us how the world is. ... Dangers and ethical issue arise only when science is applied as technology.

Both Newton and Darwin were driven by the data and were forced to recognize that they couldn't explain everything. It may be a characteristic of great scientists to know what to accept and what to leave out.