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The Life And Soul Of Science Is Its Practical Application, And Just As The Great Advances In Mathematics Have Been Made Through The Desire Of Discovering The Solution Of Problems Which Were Of A Highly Practical Kind In Mathematical Science, So In Physical Science Many Of The Greatest Advances That Have Been Made From The Beginning Of The World To The Present Time Have Been Made In The Earnest Desire To Turn The Knowledge Of The Properties Of Matter To Some Purpose Useful To Mankind.

-Lord Kelvin

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The Life And Soul

Lord Kelvin

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The Life And Soul Of Science Is Its Practical Application, And Just As The Great Advances In Mathematics Have Been Made Through The Desire Of Discovering The Solution Of Problems Which Were Of A Highly Practical Kind In Mathematical Science, So In Physical Science Many Of The Greatest Advances That Have Been Made From The Beginning Of The World To The Present Time Have Been Made In The Earnest Desire To Turn The Knowledge Of The Properties Of Matter To Some Purpose Useful To Mankind.

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[referring To Fourier's Mathematical Theory Of The Conduction Of Heat] ... Fourier's Great Mathematical Poem.

When You Can Measure What You Are Speaking About, And Express It In Numbers, You Know Something About It.

If You Study Science Deep Enough And Long Enough, It Will Force You To Believe In God.

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I Have Not Had A Moment's Peace Or Happiness In Respect To Electromagnetic Theory Since November 28, 1846. All This Time I Have Been Liable To Fits Of Ether Dipsomania, Kept Away At Intervals Only By Rigorous Abstention From Thought On The Subject.

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We Only Know God In His Works, But We Are Forced By Science To Admit And To Believe With Absolute Confidence In A Directive Power-in An Influence Other Than Physical, Or Dynamical, Or Electrical Forces.

You Know Only Insofar As You Can Measure.

At What Time Does The Dissipation Of Energy Begin?

Large Increases In Cost With Questionable Increases In Performance Can Be Tolerated Only In Race Horses And Fancy Women.

Overwhelmingly Strong Proofs Of Intelligent And Benevolent Design Lie Around Us... The Atheistic Idea Is So Nonsensical That I Cannot Put It Into Words.

Heavier-than-air Flying Machines Are Impossible.

Although Mechanical Energy Is Indestructible, There Is A Universal Tendency To Its Dissipation, Which Produces Throughout The System A Gradual Augmentation And Diffusion Of Heat, Cessation Of Motion And Exhaustion Of The Potential Energy Of The Material Universe

If You Cannot Measure It, Then It Is Not Science.

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Quaternions Came From Hamilton After His Really Good Work Had Been Done, And Though Beautifully Ingenious, Have Been An Unmixed Evil To Those Who Have Touched Them In Any Way.

I Have Not The Smallest Molecule Of Faith In Aerial Navigation Other Than Ballooning, Or Of The Expectation Of Good Results From Any Of The Trials We Heard Of. So You Will Understand That I Would Not Care To Be A Member Of The Aeronautical Society.

Science Is Bound, By The Everlasting Vow Of Honour, To Face Fearlessly Every Problem Which Can Be Fairly Presented To It.

All Of Science Can Be Divided Into Physics And Stamp-collecting.

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There Is Nothing In Science Which Teaches The Origin Of Anything At All.

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The Atheistic Idea Is So Nonsensical That I Do Not See How I Can Put It In Words.

Vortices Of Pure Energy Can Exist And, If My Theories Are Right, Can Compose The Bodily Form Of An Intelligent Species.

Mathematics Is The Only Good Metaphysics.

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The Fact That Mathematics Does Such A Good Job Of Describing The Universe Is A Mystery That We Don't Understand. And A Debt That We Will Probably Never Be Able To Repay.

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Radio Has No Future." "x-rays Are Clearly A Hoax". "the Aeroplane Is Scientifically Impossible.

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