What does this quote mean?

Question

I do not understand this quote, I need help with my AP homework.

5. Thomas Henry Huxley once wrote, “The great tragedy of science – the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.” Explain what he meant, based on what you learned about the nature of science.

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Firstly, If you don't know what this means.. you probably shouldn't be in AP. Just sayin'.


But, I believe this may mean.. You may imagine something being beautiful but in reality the truth is ugly.

You can hope for something to be beautiful and wonderful, but it may not turn out that way.

Answer 2

The great tragedy of science – the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.

This means that people come up with lovely, intellectually satisfying explanations for things. But science requires that the explanation be put in the form of a testable hypothesis, And often the idea is proved not to be true by the scientific test. It is sad for the scientist.

Now you say what you learned about science to show the meaning.....

Answer 3

It almost seems too simple. First of all, a "beautiful hypothesis" would be an answer that seemed to be the perfect answer to a question but hadn't been proved. (example would be as in ancient times when they thought that tomatoes were poisonous because everyone got sick when they ate them)

However, many great explanations have been proven wrong...and thus slayed. It was later discovered that tomatoes were NOT poisonous. In ancient times, plates were made out of lead. The acid in the tomato interacted with the lead, and people were getting lead poisoning not tomato poisoning.

The tradgedy of science is that everything has to be proved and most theories are proven wrong when fact is discovered.

Answer 4

The problem with the scientific method is that once a delightful theory has been thoroughly tested it is often shown to be wrong because the actual fact (or conclusion) proves it was an inaccurate theory or hypothesis; therefore, one might conclude it was "sadly" a great waste of valuable time and effort. What a tragedy!

Hypothesis has been trodden down by Fact.

Answer 5

The beautiful hypothesis of Man for countless centuries of our existence was that the Earth was the center of the Universe, and the Sun, Moon, and all the planets and stars revolved around our world, and this was obviously true because our existence here proved it.

The ugly fact of the Sun being the center of the solar system, and that the stars were therefore wholly unaware of our existence (let alone busily directing our individual destinies) came along and killed the aforementioned hypothesis.

Answer 6

It means the story of creation is ruined by the fact about evolution
Huxley's famous 1860 debate with the Lord Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, was a key moment in the wider acceptance of evolution, and in his own career. Wilberforce was coached by Richard Owen, against whom Huxley also debated on whether man was closely related to apes. Huxley was slow to accept some of Darwin's ideas, such as gradualism, and was undecided about natural selection, but despite this he was wholehearted in his public support of Darwin

Answer 7

It means that you invest so much time, effort, etc into a hypothesis trying to prove that its true, only to find out after using the scientific method/research, that you are wrong, and the feelings of loss associated with that. But unfortunately, that process is necessary, in order to learn what is true and not continue on based on assumptions.

Answer 8

I think in the most basic sense he is trying to say that science, while important, can take something that to an individual is beautiful and for lack of a better phrase "magical" and explain away its wonder.

Answer 9

I'm pretty sure it means that... Although a hypothesis about something may seem extraordinary or correct it is ruined of its knowledge with fact that proves that it is incorrect and therefore diminishing its potential for greatness.

Answer 10

He is saying that in science, you start out with a hypothesis, which is usually the results that you want to be true. If it's what you want to happen, then in essence, to you it is "beautiful".

You then take the hypothesis and test it, resulting with what really happens, or "the fact". If the facts are not what you thought or wanted them to be, then they are "ugly" or undesirable.

Answer 11

Scientists like theories and hypotheses that are 'elegant' - that explain something simply and beautifully, that appeal to common sense or spark our imagination. But sometimes a beautiful theory gets shot down when experiments prove it wrong. That's the 'ugly fact'.