John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh Quotes

15 Sourced Quotes

Without encroaching upon grounds appertaining to the theologian and the philosopher, the domain of natural sciences is surely broad enough to satisfy the wildest ambition of its devotees. In other departments of human life and interest, true progress is rather an article of faith than a rational belief; but in science a retrograde movements is, from the nature of the case, almost impossible. Increasing knowledge brings with it increasing power, and great as are the triumphs of the present century, we may well believe that they are but a foretaste of what discovery and invention have yet in store for mankind. … The work may be hard, and the discipline severe; but the interest never fails, and great is the privilege of achievement.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
I want to get back again from Chemistry to Physics as soon as I can. The second-rate men seem to know their place so much better.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
The only merit of which I personally am conscious was that of having pleased myself by my studies, and any results that may be due to my researches were owing to the fact that it has been a pleasure for me to become a physicist.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
One's instinct is at first to try and get rid of a discrepancy, but I believe that experience shows such an endeavour to be a mistake. What one ought to do is to magnify a small discrepancy with a view to finding out the explanation.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
In science by a fiction as remarkable as any to be found in law, what once been published even though it be in the Russian language, is spoken of as known, and it is too often forgotten that the rediscovery in the library may be a more difficult and uncertain process than the first discovery in the laboratory.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
The history of science teaches only too plainly the lesson that no single method is absolutely to be relied upon, that sources of error lurk where they are least expected, and that they may escape the notice of the most experienced and conscientious worker.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
The sensation of sound is a thing sui generis, not comparable with any of our other sensations. No one can express the relation between a sound and a colour or a smell.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
Science is nothing without generalisations... The suggestion of a new idea, or the detection of a law, supersedes much that had previously been a burden upon the memory, and by introducing order and coherence facilitates the retention of the remainder in an available form.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
There are some great men of science whose charm consists in having said the first word on a subject, in having introduced some new idea which has proved fruitful; there are others whose charm consists perhaps in having said the last word on the subject, and who have reduced the subject to logical consistency and clearness.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
When once we have discovered the physical phenomena which constitute the foundation of sound, our explorations are in great measure transferred to another field lying within the domain of the principles of Mechanics.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
Scientific men should not rush to conclusions, but keep their minds open for such time as may be necessary.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
Examples... which might be multiplied ad libitum show how difficult it often is for an experimenter to interpret his results without the aid of mathematics.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
The application of fundamental discoveries in science is altogether too remote for it to be possible to control such discoveries at the source.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
Indeed, I have seen some indications that the anomalous properties of argon are brought as a kind of accusation against us. But we had the very best intentions in the matter. The facts were too much for us, and all that we can do now is apologize for ourselves and for the gas.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh
I am much puzzled by some recent results as to the density of nitrogen, and shall be obliged if any of your chemical readers can offer suggestions as to the cause. According to two methods of preparation I obtain quite distinct values.

John Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh