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Harlow Shapley Quotes

No one trusts a model except the man who wrote it; everyone trusts an observation, except the man who made it.

No one trusts a model except the man who wrote it; everyone trusts an observation, except the man who made it.

Harlow Shapley
Men, He Man, Made

Theories crumble, but good observations never fade.

Harlow Shapley
Astronomy, Theory, Observation

The solar system is off center and consequently man is too.

Harlow Shapley
Men, Solar System
Harlow Shapley (1969). “Through rugged ways to the stars”

A hypothesis or theory is clear, decisive, and positive, but it is believed by no one but the man who created it. Experimental findings, on the other hand, are messy, inexact things, which are believed by everyone except the man who did that work.

Harlow Shapley
Science, Men, Hands

Chaos is but unperceived order; it is a word indicating the limitations of the human mind and the paucity of observational facts. The words ‘chaos,’ ‘accidental,’ ‘chance,’ ‘unpredictable,’ are conveniences behind which we hide our ignorance.

Harlow Shapley
Ignorance, Order, Mind
HARLOW SHAPLEY (1958). “OF STARS AND MEN”

Some piously record 'In the beginning God', but I say 'In the beginning hydrogen'.

Harlow Shapley
Records, Hydrogen

It seems to me that the evidence ... is opposed to the view that the spirals are individual galaxies comparable with our own. In fact, there appears as yet no reason for modifying the tentative hypothesis that the spirals are not composed of typical stars at all, but are truly nebulous objects.

Harlow Shapley
Stars, Science, Views

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