Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow
Bantam Press 2010
p 44
Strict realists often argue that the proof that scientific theories represent reality lies in their success. But different theories can successfully describe the same phenomenon through disparate conceptual frameworks.
p 46
According to model-dependent realism, it is pointless to ask whether a model is real, only whether it agrees with observation.
p 140
The histories that contribute to the Feynman sum don't have an independent existence, but depend on what is being measured. We create history rather than history creating us.
p 150
The fact that the earth is closest to the sun at this time [winter]—only 91.5 million miles away, as opposed to around 94.5 million miles away from the sun in early July— has a negligible effect on the temperature compared with the effect of its tilt.
p 172
There is no model-independent test of reality.