From the Rules of Work

"It shouldn’t come as a surprise that, in French, (Montaigne's) word essay also means 'trial'. And these weren’t idle diversions. He practiced this art to learn how to live." - Ryan Holiday

"There are many examples of old, incorrect theories that stubbornly persisted, sustained only by the prestige of foolish but well-connected scientists. ... Many of these theories have been killed off only when some decisive experiment exposed their incorrectness. .. Thus the yeoman work in any science, and especially physics, is done by the experimentalist, who must keep the theoreticians honest." - Michio Kaku, Hyperspace