[Chemist Michael] Polanyi found one other necessary requirement for full initiation into science: Belief. If science has become the orthodoxy of the West, individuals are nevertheless still free to take it or leave it, in whole or in part; believers in astrology, Marxism and virgin birth abound. But "no one can become a scientist unless he presumes that the scientific doctrine and method are fundamentally sound and that their ultimate premises can be unquestionably accepted. Richard Rhodes
About This Quote

He was speaking about the importance of belief in science. Most people are not ready to believe in something new, especially when it is difficult to justify the belief. Yet, science requires so many people to believe in it, so many people have to believe in it, before it will work. That one person might not have the ability to understand or be part of that group is irrelevant because that person has one thing that all other people don't have.

That person has belief. It is that belief that makes the difference between being a scientist and being an ordinary person who isn't able to believe in science.

Source: The Making Of The Atomic Bomb

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