- Lived:
- 1924–1994 · Vienna, London, Bristol, Berkeley, Zurich, and half the airports in between
- Tradition:
- Philosophy of science; "epistemological anarchism"
- The Big Idea:
- There is no single, fixed scientific method — history shows that great science broke every rule ever proposed for it, and knowledge grows through a riot of competing alternatives, not obedience to a recipe.
- In their words:
- "Anything goes" — not his creed, but his ironic verdict on the search for one exceptionless rule.
- If you remember one thing:
- The man branded "the worst enemy of science" loved science deeply; what he attacked was the worship of Method — the fantasy that a rulebook, rather than imagination, courage, and argument, is what makes knowledge grow.