 Bertrand Russell Quotes 366 |
Many fundamental discoveries have been the accidental reward of restless curiosity. One of the best examples of this is the first discovery of radio-activity by Becquerel. He put some lumps of pitchblende into a dark cupboard in which there happened to be some photographic plates. When he took the plates out later on, he found that the pitchblende had photographed itself, in spite of being in complete darkness.
Source: Bertrand Russell: Human Society in Ethics and Politics, 1954, part II: The Conflict of Passions, chapter 3: Forethought and Skill, n.13
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In reality, however, even with our ‘boundless curiosity’ we do not make great discoveries. We do not, like Newton, come up with the law of universal gravitation by watching an apple fall from a tree, nor do we, like Einstein, come up with the theory that there is no such thing as gravity, but that space is curved so that it seems as if a gravitational force exists. . Those who are born with a superior cerebral cortex are fortunate.
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