Humphry Davy

progress humand mind science ultimate

“Nothing is so dangerous to the progress of the human mind than to assume that our views of science are ultimate, that there are no mysteries in nature, that our triumphs are complete and that there are no new worlds to conquer.”

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

knowledge ignorance unknown

“The more we know, the more we feel our ignorance; the more we feel how much remains unknown”

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

discovery failure important

"The most important of my discoveries have been suggested to me by failures."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

learn mistake success

"I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

discovery field fact imperfect theory circle light boundary dakr

"Every discovery opens a new field for investigation of facts, shows us the imperfection of our theories. It has justly been said, that the greater the circle of light, the greater the boundary of darkness by which it is surrounded."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

experiment cience approximation truth agent danger mistaken

"Experimental science hardly ever affords us more than approximations to the truth; and whenever many agents are concerned we are in great danger of being mistaken."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

consistency opinion poison intellect destroy vividness energy

"Consistency in opinion is the slow poison of intellectual life, the destroyer of its vividness and energy."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

elements combine compound mass ratio number

"When two elements combine and form more than one compound, the masses of one element that react with a fixed mass of the other are in the ratio of small whole numbers."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

art gallery Paris collection frames art painting

"The art galleries of Paris contain the finest collection of frames I ever saw."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)

geology nature philosophy contemplation

"Geology, perhaps more than any other department of natural philosophy, is a science of contemplation. It requires no experience or complicated apparatus, no minute processes upon the unknown processes of matter. It demands only an enquiring mind and senses alive to the facts almost everywhere presented in nature. And as it may be acquired without much difficulty, so it may be improved without much painful exertion."

― Humphry Davy (1778-1829)