Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.

Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody
appreciates how difficult it was.

The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody
appreciates how difficult it was.

...there is no prescribed route to follow to arrive at a new idea. You have to make the intuitive leap. read more

...there is no prescribed route to follow to arrive at a new idea. You have to make the intuitive leap. But the difference is that once you've made the intuitive leap you have to justify it by filling in the intermediate steps. In my case, it often happens that I have an idea, but then I try to fill in the intermediate steps and find that they don't work, so I have to give it up.

If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics. - Essays, 1625.

If a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathematics. - Essays, 1625.

Like the furtive collectors of stolen art, we [cell biologists] are forced to be lonely admirers of spectacular architecture, exquisite read more

Like the furtive collectors of stolen art, we [cell biologists] are forced to be lonely admirers of spectacular architecture, exquisite symmetry, dramas of violence and death, mobility, self-sacrifice and, yes, rococo sex.

I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.

I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.

An idea is the only level which moves the world.

An idea is the only level which moves the world.

Before we work on artificial intelligence why don't we do something about natural stupidity?

Before we work on artificial intelligence why don't we do something about natural stupidity?

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.

Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.