Original artwork, not a still
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the scientist's creed in a sentence: the breakthrough is rarely a trumpet, it is a quiet 'huh, that's odd' at a result that should not be there. Penicillin, the cosmic microwave background and countless smaller finds fit the pattern, so labs, teachers and science posters keep it handy. That Asimov probably never wrote it has not slowed it down; his name simply fits the voice.
Context reviewed
In context
May contain spoilersShow the scene
This is attributed to Isaac Asimov, but no one has found it in his writing. Quote Investigator traced the earliest strong match to a June 1987 distribution of the Unix "fortune" program, whose database of sayings listed it under Asimov's name with no citation. Asimov was still alive then and died in 1992. Steven Cooper's 2023 Asimov bibliography says the line turned up in dozens of places without an original source and calls the attribution doubtful if not spurious. The idea itself, that discoveries start with a puzzling observation rather than a shout of triumph, is much older than the quote.
Sources (2)
- Quote Investigator: The Most Exciting Phrase in ScienceReply from Quote InvestigatorReference checked
- Wikiquote: Isaac AsimovAttributed sectionReference checked
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