"If 'bounded by a surface' is the definition of body there cannot be an infinite body either intelligible or sensible." ((Aristotle, "De Caelo" ["On the Heavens"], cca. 350 BC)
"When what surrounds, then, is not separate from the thing, but is in continuity with it, the thing is said to be in what surrounds it, not in the sense of in place, but as a part in a whole. But when the thing is separate or in contact, it is immediately ‘in’ the inner surface of the surrounding body, and this surface is neither a part of what is in it nor yet greater than its extension, but equal to it; for the extremities of things which touch are coincident." (Aristotle, "Physics",
"Conscious apprehension seems to exist […] as happens in a mirror-image when the smooth and bright surface is peaceful." (Plotinus, "Enneads", cca. 270 AD)
"Do not hover always on the surface of things, nor take up suddenly with mere appearances; but penetrate into the depth of matters, as far as your time and circumstances allow, especially in those things which relate to your profession." (Isaac Watts, "The Improvement of the Mind: Or, A Supplement to the Art of Logic", 1741)
"When a power of nature, invisible and impalpable, is the subject of scientific inquiry, it is necessary, if we would comprehend its essence and properties, to study its manifestations and effects. For this purpose simple observation is insufficient, since error always lies on the surface, whilst truth must be sought in deeper regions." (Justus von Liebig," Familiar Letters on Chemistry", 1859)
"Phenomena may well be suspected of anything, are capable of anything. Hypothesis proclaims the infinite; that is what gives hypothesis its greatness. Beneath the surface fact it seeks the real fact. It asks creation for her thoughts, and then for her second thoughts. The great scientific discoverers are those who hold nature suspect." (Victor Hugo, "The Toilers of the Sea", 1866)
"Scientific principles and laws do not lie on the surface of nature. They are hidden, and must be wrested from nature by an active and elaborate technique of inquiry." (John Dewey, "Reconstruction in Philosophy", 1920)
"In science there are no 'depths'; there is surface everywhere." (Rudolf Carnap, 1929)
"The present, as every schoolboy knows, is only the surface of the space-time sea, and a living spacewhale can dive beneath this surface and sojourn in times past, can return, if it so desires, to the primordial moment when the cosmos was born." (Robert F Young, "Starscape with Frieze of Dreams", 1970)
"Models are not intended to either reflect or construct a single objective reality. Rather, their purpose is to simulate some aspect of a possible reality. In NLP, for instance, it is not important whether or not a model is 'true' , but rather that it is 'useful' . In fact, all models can be perceived as symbolic or metaphoric, as opposed to reflective of reality. Whether the description being used is metaphorical or literal, the usefulness of a model depends on the degree to which it allows us to move effectively to the next step in the sequence of transformations connecting deeper structures and surface structures. Instead of 'constructing' reality, models establish a set of functions that serve as a tool or a bridge between deep structures and surface structures. It is this bridge that forms our 'understanding' of reality and allows us to generate new experiences and expressions of reality." (Richard Bandler & John Grinder, "The Structure of Magic", 1975)
"Prime numbers have always fascinated mathematicians, professional and amateur alike. They appear among the integers, seemingly at random, and yet not quite: there seems to be some order or pattern, just a little below the surface, just a little out of reach." (Underwood Dudley, "Elementary Number Theory", 1978)
"The immediate evidence from the natural world may seem to be chaotic and without any inner regularity, but mathematics reveals that under the surface the world of nature has an unexpected simplicity - an extraordinary beauty and order." (William Byers, "How Mathematicians Think", 2007)
"We don’t recognize how easy it is to generate hypotheses about the world. If we did, we’d generate fewer of them, or at least hold them more tentatively. We sprout causal theories in abundance when we learn of a correlation, and we readily find causal explanations for the failure of the world to confirm our hypotheses. We don’t realize how easy it is for us to explain away evidence that would seem on the surface to contradict our hypotheses. And we fail to generate tests of a hypothesis that could falsify the hypothesis if in fact the hypothesis is wrong. This is one type of confirmation bias."
"Knowing means to penetrate through the surface, in order to arrive at the roots, and hence the causes; knowing means to "see" reality in its nakedness. Knowing does not mean to be in the possession of the truth; it means to penetrate the surface and to strive critically and actively in order to approach truth ever more closely." (Erich Fromm, "Fascism, Power, and Individual Rights", 2017)
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