But anyone who is practically acquainted with scientific work is aware that those who refuse to go beyond fact, rarely get as far as fact; and anyone who has studied the history of science knows that almost every great step therein has been made by the 'anticipation of Nature, ' that is, by the invention of hypotheses, which, though verifiable, often had very little foundation to start with. Thomas Henry Huxley
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Alfred Newton was a great English physicist and is most famous for his law of universal gravitation. He said: “But anyone who is practically acquainted with scientific work is aware that those who refuse to go beyond fact, rarely get as far as fact; and anyone who has studied the history of science knows that almost every great step therein has been made by the 'anticipation of Nature,' that is, by the invention of hypotheses, which, though verifiable, often had very little foundation to start with.” In short, Newton was saying that it's more important to look ahead than to stay in a single place.

Source: The Advance Of Science In The Last Halfcentury

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