Thanks for your response, Mike. What you have uncovered surely conveys the same 
thought. However, I could have sworn that I had heard/read a more succinct 
version not unlike the one I posted with my request. I wanted to use it in the 
context of a comment I made in response to this APS Observer article, 
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2014/january-14/seeing-in-the-dark-no-superhero-powers-necessary.html,
 but at the time I could not locate the exact quote, or its author who my 
colleague thought might have been William James. 

Miguel

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Palij" <[email protected]>
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" <[email protected]>
Cc: "Michael Palij" <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2014 12:39:52 PM
Subject: Re: [tips] CBC News: 10 popular quotes, and who really said them

On Sat, 11 Jan 2014 04:37:58 -0800, Miguel Roig wrote:
[snip]
>BTW, while on the subject of quotes. Can anyone track down
>the actual quote (and its author) that goes something like this:
>"The function of each generation of researchers is to rediscover
>what the previous generation did".

The quote above is odd in that components do not appear in
any sources via Google search, both web and books  (e.g.,
"function of each generation").  It's clear that this refers to science
or other research endeavor and it has a very different sense
than the old saying of researchers standing on the "shoulders
of giants" (attributed to Newton but appears to be original
with Bernard of Chartres; see:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton )

However, I have come across a statement that is close in meaning
to the above quote but it does not have an attribution; see:

http://jdeveland.com/?p=490
|There is no doubt that each generation needs to rediscover
|territory pioneered by previous generations, and usually to
|drape it in new and distinctive clothing. But it does seem a
|shame that these rediscoveries can only establish their value
|by claiming to have found something new and unique.

This statement may be based on comments from another source
but that is another paper chase.

-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected]


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