 | John B Burland
emeritus professor of soil mechanics at Imperial College London, vice president (engineering) of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and member of the commission for stabilising the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Sit down before the facts as a little child; be prepared to give up every preconceived notion
The single scientific principle that has guided me for years, and has been a continuing source of inspiration, is a simple statement by the nineteenth-century British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley: 'Sit down before the facts as a little child; be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.' I believe that many lectures and papers could be written around this single, simple statement. But I will refrain form enlarging upon it, as it is so simple and so powerful.
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