"Today we preach that science is not science unless it is quantitative... [however] many - perhaps most - of the great issues of science are qualitative, not quantitative, even in physics and chemistry. Equations and measurements are useful when and only when they are related to proof; but proof or disproof comes first and is in fact strongest when it is absolutely convincing without any quantitative measurement. Or to say it another way, you can catch phenomena in a logical box or in a mathematical box. The logical box is coarse but strong. The mathematical box is fine-grained but flimsy. The mathematical box is a beautiful way of wrapping up a problem, but it will not hold the phenomena unless they have been caught in a logical box to begin with."
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Original Language: English
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Sources
John R. Platt, "Science, Strong Inference — Proper Scientific Method (The New Baconians)", Science Magazine, vol. 146, no. 3642 (16 October 1964)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Science
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