François Jacob
A molecular biologist who, with Jacques Monod, discovered the operon model of gene regulation, explaining how genes are turned on and off.
Most quoted
"A theory is a good theory if it satisfies two requirements: It must accurately describe a large class of observations on the basis of a model that contains only a few arbitrary elements, and it must make definite predictions about the results of future observations."
— from Attributed
"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."
— from The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity
"The dream of the biologist is to understand the living world, to grasp its essence, to unravel its secrets. But the living world is not a simple mechanism; it is a history."
— from La logique du vivant, une histoire de l'hérédité, 1970
All quotes by François Jacob (362)
The dream of the biologist is to understand the living world, to grasp its essence, to unravel its secrets. But the living world is not a simple mechanism; it is a history.
Evolution is not a force but a process, not a cause but a history.
The genome is not a blueprint but a recipe, a set of instructions that can be interpreted in many ways.
Science is not a collection of facts, but a way of thinking.
The most important discovery of all is the discovery of discovery itself.
The living world is a world of bricolage, of tinkering, of making do with what is at hand.
Evolution does not produce novelties from scratch. It works on what already exists, modifying it, adapting it, combining it in new ways.
The cell is a republic of molecules.
What is not forbidden is allowed.
The true scientist is not a man who knows the answers, but a man who asks the right questions.
Every scientific discovery is a new way of looking at the world.
The history of science is the history of errors.
The world is not made of things, but of processes.
Life is a continuous creation of novelty.
The living world is a world of constraints and possibilities.
The scientist is a storyteller, but his stories must be true.
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.
The living world is a world of improvisation.
The genome is a memory of the past, a program for the future.
Science is a dialogue between man and nature.
Contemporaries of François Jacob
Other Biologys born within 50 years of François Jacob (1920–2013).