"[...] an hypothesis is a work of fancy, useless in science, and fit only for the amusement of a vacant hour." (Henry Brougham, Edinburgh Review 1, 1803)
"The hypothesis is like the captain, and the observations like the soldiers of an army: while he appears to command them, and in this way to work his own will, he does in fact derive all his power of conquest from their obedience, and becomes helpless and useless if they mutiny." (William Whewell, "Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences", 1840)
"An anticipative idea or an hypothesis is, then, the necessary starting point for all experimental reasoning." (Claude Bernard, "An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine", 1865)
"An hypothesis is only a habit - a habit of looking through a glass of one peculiar colour, which imparts its hue to all around it." (Frederick Marryat, "The King's Own", 1873)
"For the truly scientific man, the hypothesis is destined solely to enable him to get the facts of nature in some definite order, an order which shall make apparent their connection with the great order and harmony which is believed to be present in the universe." (James M Baldwin, "The Processes of Life Revealed by the Microscope: A Plea for Physiological Histology", Science N.S. Vol. 2 (34), 1895)
"A successful hypothesis is not necessarily a permanent hypothesis, but it is one which stimulates additional research, opens up new fields, or explains and coordinates previously unrelated facts." (Farrington Daniels, "Outlines of Physical Chemistry", 1948)
"Hypothesis is a tool which can cause trouble if not used properly. We must be ready to abandon out hypothesis as soon as it is shown to be inconsistent with the facts." (William I B Beveridge, "The Art of Scientific Investigation", 1950)
"The hypothesis is the principal intellectual instrument in research." (William I B Beveridge, "The Art of Scientific Investigation", 1950)
"A hypothesis is empirical or scientific only if it can be tested by experience." (Francisco J Ayala, "Biological Evolution: Natural Selection or Random Walk", American Scientist, 1974)
"In a modern professional vocabulary a hypothesis is an imaginative preconception of what might be true in the form of a declaration with verifiable deductive consequences."
"A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective." (Edward Teller, "Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics", 1991)
"A hypothesis may be simply defined as a guess. A scientific hypothesis is an intelligent guess." (Isaac Asimov)
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