Wilhelm Ostwald
He made significant contributions to catalysis, chemical equilibria, and reaction velocities, winning the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Most quoted
"All scientific work is incomplete — whether it be observational or experimental. All scientific work is liable to be upset or modified by advancing knowledge. That does not confer upon us a freedom to ignore the knowledge we already have, or to postpone the action that it appears to demand at a given time."
— from Essays
"The true method of discovery is like the flight of an aeroplane. It starts from the ground of particular observation; it makes a flight in the thin air of imaginative generalization; and it again lands for renewed observation rendered acute by rational interpretation."
— from The Philosophy of Science
"The laws of thermodynamics control, in the last resort, the rise and fall of political systems, the freedom or bondage of nations, the movements of commerce and industry, the origins of wealth and poverty, and the general physical welfare of the human race."
— from Der energetische Imperativ, 1912
All quotes by Wilhelm Ostwald (387)
Science is the systematic pursuit of knowledge, and the most important tool for this pursuit is the experiment.
Energy is the fundamental concept of all natural science.
The progress of science depends on the constant interaction between theory and experiment.
The task of science is not to explain, but to describe.
All knowledge begins with experience.
The greatest discovery of all is the discovery of method.
The world is not a collection of things, but a collection of processes.
The scientist must be a poet in his heart and a mathematician in his head.
The most important thing in science is to ask the right questions.
Truth is not found, but made.
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
The essence of science is to make things simple, not simpler.
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, but one who asks the right questions.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
Imagination is more important than knowledge.
The only real valuable thing is intuition.
The aim of science is not to open the door to infinite wisdom, but to set a limit to infinite error.
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.
Contemporaries of Wilhelm Ostwald
Other Chemistrys born within 50 years of Wilhelm Ostwald (1853–1932).