In one Bloom County strip, Oliver Wendall Jones says something along the lines of “Another beautiful theory spoiled by inconvenient facts.”
I’m pretty sure I’ve not got it right, and I can’t remember the context. Can the Dopers help me?
I can’t help with the exact wording as it appears in the strip, but I believe either Opus or Milo pipes up after that line “Herbert Spencer said it first.” The Spencer quote as I find it online is “There is nothing so tragic as a beautiful theory foiled by an inconvenient fact.”
This quote "“The great tragedy of Science: the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact” is attributed to Thomas Henry Huxley and I think that’s who it was attributed to in the comic
Teacher: Original ideas? There are no truly original ideas lift in science, Mr Jones.
OWJ: Au contraire! I myselft have an original idea!
Teacher: Original Mr. Jones?
OWJ: 100% original! A first! Truly unique! Allow me to present my findings!
OWJ: The following formula shows conclusively how the entire world’s energy needs can be fulfilled with only two porcupines, an exercise wheel, and six tons of “raisin bran”. Truly … an original notion.
OWJ: There! It all adds up!
Teacher: … Except that porcupines are alergic to raisins.
Teacher: Failure, Mr Jones, is hardly very original. Sit down.
OWJ: The great tragedy of science – the slaying of an original, beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.
Milo: Thomas Huxley said it first.
Bloom Country Babylon - Five Years of Basic Naughtiness, p. 117
I knew you guys would come through - thanks!
Thanks for the correction; I definitely should have remembered Huxley. :smack: