John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher Quotes
In war the first principle is to disobey orders. Any fool can obey orders!
Fisher, John Arbuthnot. Memories. Hodder and Stoughton, 1919.
This is a modern summary of the philosophy of Benedict Spinoza who developed the modern philosophical foundation of science and scientific thinking. When the authorities are clerics and religious leaders, their authority gets undermined which is why the Jews, Christians, and Muslims all excommunicated Spinoza. For the scientists, they themselves are to be rejected as determiners of knowledge and truth so they tend to do poorly in political disputes because the good scientists would never assert a belief that the politicians should listen to them just because they are great scientists and they “know.” It is the ideologues and junk scientists who are sure of their testimony and can advise with certainty. See linked quote(s).
3rd Earl Russell of Kingston. He arrives at the same place as Spinoza did in the 17th century although his reasons are different.
Alvarez was one of the key physicists who developed the atom bomb and was the scientist selected to accompany the plane bombing Hiroshima. There was considerable friction in the Manhattan Project development of the bomb between the scientists and the military.
John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, GCB, OM, GCVO, commonly known as Jacky or Jackie Fisher, was a British Admiral of the Fleet known for his efforts at naval reform. He had a huge influence on the Royal Navy in a career spanning more than 60 years, starting in a navy of wooden sailing ships armed with muzzle-loading cannon and ending in one of steel-hulled battlecruisers, submarines and the first aircraft carriers.
