François Arago quotes

François Arago was a French physicist, mathematician, and astronomer, renowned for his contributions to optics and magnetism. His scientific research played a crucial role in the development of wave theory of light and advancements in polarimetry. He also became a prominent political figure, advocating for the abolition of slavery and engaging in public service. Here are 9 of his quotes:

On certain occasions, the eyes of the mind can supply the want of the most powerful telescopes, and lead to astronomical discoveries of the highest importance.

François Arago

Let us award a just, a brilliant homage to those rare men whom nature has endowed with the precious privilege of arranging a thousand isolated facts, of making seductive theories spring from them; but let us not forget to state, that the scythe of the reaper had cut the stalks before one had thought of uniting them into sheaves!

François Arago

The calculus of probabilities, when confined within just limits, ought to interest, in an equal degree, the mathematician, the experimentalist, and the statesman.

François Arago

In the experimental sciences, the epochs of the most brilliant progress are almost always separated by long intervals of almost absolute repose.

François Arago

I was often humiliated to see men disputing for a piece of bread, just as animals might have done. My feelings on this subject have very much altered since I have been personally exposed to the tortures of hunger. I have discovered, in fact, that a man, whatever may have been his origin, his education, and his habits, is governed, under certain circumstances, much more by his stomach than by his intelligence and his heart.

François Arago

I have discovered, in fact, that a man, whatever may have been his origin, his education, and his habits, is governed, under certain circumstances, much more by his stomach than by his intelligence and his heart.

François Arago

I was often humiliated to see men disputing for a piece of bread, just as animals might have done.

François Arago

The lapse of ages has not rendered us wiser in this respect. In our own time the public delight in blending fable with history.

François Arago