The popular idea of scientific investigation is a vehement, aimless collection of little facts, collected as a bower bird collects shells and pebbles, in methodical little rows, and out of this process, in some manner unknown to the popular mind, certain conjuring tricks - the celebrated "wonders of science" - in a sort of accidental way emerge.

The Discover of the Future, The Discovery of the Future (p. 34), B.W. Huebsch. 1914