“ In all cases positive palaeontological evidence may be implicitly trusted; negative evidence is worthless, as experience has so often shown. ”
Charles Darwin, On The Origin of Species (1859). copy citation
| Author | Charles Darwin |
|---|---|
| Source | On The Origin of Species |
| Topic | experience science evidence |
| Date | 1859 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2009/2009-h/2009-h.htm |
Context
“But we continually overrate the perfection of the geological record, and falsely infer, because certain genera or families have not been found beneath a certain stage, that they did not exist before that stage. In all cases positive palaeontological evidence may be implicitly trusted; negative evidence is worthless, as experience has so often shown. We continually forget how large the world is, compared with the area over which our geological formations have been carefully examined; we forget that groups of species may elsewhere have long existed, and have slowly multiplied, before they invaded the ancient archipelagoes of Europe and the United States.”
source
Meaning and analysis
