How Prejudice Affects Science

‘Writers on scientific method usually tell us that scientific discoveries are made “inferentially,” that is to say, from putting together many facts. But this is far from being correct. The facts by themselves are never sufficient to lead unequivocally to the really profound discoveries. Facts are always analyzed in terms of the prejudices of the investigator.’

Sir Fred Hoyle, Highlights in Astronomy, W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 1975.