Solaris Science Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph) Note that chapters aren't numbered, so need to be numbered manually, 1 to 14.

Quote #1

At that time the Gamow-Shapley theory—that life was impossible on planets which are satellites of two solar bodies—was firmly believed. (2.11)

This is one of the first future scientific theories we hear about… and of course, it's wrong. Science is almost always wrong in Solaris.

Quote #2

"Do you intend continuing with the experiments?"

He gave a contemptuous shrug:

"What good would that do?" (3.118-120)

Experiments are useless, so abandon all hope, science folks. Your test tubes will not help you.

Quote #3

"You must know that science is concerned with phenomena rather than causes." (6.105)

Snow is saying that science can just catalogue or observe what happens; it can't tell you the cause of what happens. For example, science tells us how gravity works, but we still don't have a very good or certain explanation of why gravity works.