Observation is either an activity of a living being, such as a human, consisting of receiving knowledge of the outside world through the senses, or the recording of data using scientific instruments. The term may also refer to any data collected during this activity.
Read more about Observation: Observation in Science, Observational Paradoxes, Biases, Observations in Philosophy
Famous quotes containing the word observation:
“There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge available to us: observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination. Our observation of nature must be diligent, our reflection profound, and our experiments exact. We rarely see these three means combined; and for this reason, creative geniuses are not common.”
—Denis Diderot (1713–1784)
“It is a great pity—but ‘tis certain from every day’s observation of man, that he may be set on fire like a candle, at either end—provided there is a sufficient wick standing out.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“That observation which is called knowledge of the world will be found much more frequently to make men cunning than good.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)