Biology

Quotes & Thinkers in Biology

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Charles Darwin

Science

1758–1778

"It is mere rubbish thinking, at present, of origin of life; one might as well think of origin of matter. —"

"The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality."

"We no longer have to resort to superstition when faced with the deep problems: Is there a meaning to life? What are we for? What is man?"

"For the present the Grammar may yet be of service. After an eight years' life and... 4000 copies, it reappears in a revised and enlarged form."

92 quotes

🇦🇹Ludwig von Bertalanffy

Science

1901–1972

"Cybernetics, based upon the principle of feedback or circular causal trains providing mechanisms for goal-seeking and self-controlling behavior."

"Get it wrong, and we call it a cult. Get it right, in the right time and the right place, and maybe, for the next few millennia, people won't have to go to work on your birthday."

"There is no more time-wasting process than that of believing people will act, and then finding that they will not."

"Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. — Houghton Mifflin, 1962."

"The New Divinity" from Essays of a Humanist"

27 quotes

🇺🇸Edwin Grant Conklin

Science

1863–1952

"Life is not found in atoms or molecules or genes as such, but in organization; not in symbiosis but in synthesis."

4 quotes

Jean-Baptiste_Lamarck

"Are there mathematical propositions for which there is a considerable amount of computational evidence, evidence that is so persuasive that a physicist would regard them as experimentally verified?"

"All great men are gifted with intuition. They know without reasoning or analysis, what they need to know."

"Evolution is not just "chance caught on the wing". It is not just a tinkering of the ad hoc, of bricolage, of contraption. It is emergent order honored and honed by selection."

"We can find our way back to thoughtful management for the long-term well-being of both humans and forests. But finding this way will require some quiet and humility."

"The peak of the campaign happened in Albuquerque, where a local reporter said to me, "Dr. Commoner, are you a serious candidate or are you just running on the issues?"

"I think for the first time we can attack the fundamental biology of man."

"We are part of the ecosystem, although because we did not evolve as humans, I feel we are like an invasive species. The bottom line is that we take out of the ocean what we like, and throw in what we don’t want."

"Brief Lives, Chiefly of Contempories, set down by John Abrey, between the Years 1669-1696 Vol. 2, see Part III.—1859-1860 by John Aubrey"

"Love is the grounding of our existence as humans, and is the basic emotioning in our systemic identity as human beings."

"a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian."

4 quotes

🇬🇧Alfred Russel Wallace

Science

1823–1913

"Every species has come into existence coincident both in space and time with a pre-existing closely allied species."

"At the risk of being repetitious, I would remind the group that we have found the highest frequency of induced abortion in the group which, in general, most frequently uses contraceptives."