Re: Source of quote

[Stephanie Smilay <stephani@smart.net>]

On Mon, 5 Jun 2000, Peter Flom wrote:
> Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2000 09:33:57 -0400
> From: Peter Flom <peter.flom@ndri.org>
> Reply-To: quotation-ring-l@gunnar.cc
> To: quotation-ring-l@gunnar.cc
> Subject: [QRList] Source of quote
> 
> 
> I have seen the following quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, T. H.
> Huxley, and Disraeli.  Does anyone have a definitive source?  TIA
> 
> "There is nothing so horrible in nature as to see a beautiful theory
> murdered by an ugly gang of facts"
A web search yielded
The great tragedy of science, the slaying of a beautiful theory
by an ugly fact.
               - Thomas Henry Huxley 
I also saw it as
"The great tragedy of Science  the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an
ugly fact."     T. H. Huxley (1825-95), British biologist. 
But I think the first guy had it right.   The second guy had a better
page, though:  check out
http://sung3.ifsi.rm.cnr.it/~dargaud/Humor/QuotesScience.html
I can be more definitive as to the exact wording of the quote when I get
home (where my book of quotations is).
Stephanie