Coastal Engineering- Interesting Quotes

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Interesting Quotes from Literature

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Duhem, Pierre
"Scientific progress has often been compared to a mounting tide; applied to the evolution of physical theories, this comparison seems to us very appropriate, and it may be pursued in further detail. Whoever casts a brief glance at the waves striking a beach does not see the tide mount; he sees a wave rise, run, uncurl itself, and cover a narrow strip of sand, then withdraw by leaving dry the terrain which it had seemed to conquer, a new wave follows, sometimes going a little farther than the preceding one, but also this superficial to-and-fro motion, another movement is produced, deeper, slower, imperceptible to the casual observer; it is a progressive movement continuing and coming of the waves is the faithful image of those attempts at explanation which arise only to be crumbled, which advance only to retreat; underneath there continues the slow and constant progress whose flow steadily conquers new lands, and guarantees to physical doctrines the continuity of a tradition."
The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory
Chapter III (pp. 38-9)
(courtesy of Carl C. Gaither & Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither )

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Center for Applied Coastal Research • Ocean Engineering Laboratory • Newark, DE 19716 • USA •
Phone: 302-831-6531 • Fax: 302-831-1128 • E-mail: cacr@coastal.udel.edu