I found the following comments by Nobel Laureates on the role of conceptual/theoretical thinking in biology some time ago. I cannot remember the original source.
Biological understanding is the combined end product of two types of effort: the collection of observations (or facts) and the formation of relationships between observations. Scientists produce observations in the laboratory or clinic, and form relationships between observations in their mind (while in the lab, office, shower...) Both endeavours are essential. However, many practising biologists tend to dismiss the significance of conceptual or theoretical thinking in biology. In contrast, many Nobel Laureates recognise and emphasize the importance of such thinking, as follows...
'There is now a crisis developing in biology, that completely unstructured information does not enhance. What people want is to understand which means you must have a theoretical framework in which to embed this.'
Sydney Brenner (1927-2019)
'We've got to start thinking. We have all these individual components behaving in different ways, that interact in different ways, and we've got to somehow extract the general principles from that behaviour.'
Paul Nurse (1949-)
'All of the disciplines will benefit from this tremendous amount of information which is coming. But now we need people who can digest this information and can distil it into new concepts.'
Gunter Blobel (1936-2018)
'Conceptually driven research as opposed to end-use driven research, is what is likely to yield some of the biggest benefits ... Real curiosity-led work cannot be confined by a short time-horizon.'
Peter C. Doherty (1940-)
'The good scientist is not a drudge who collects facts like stamps and then searches these for a lucky conclusion: the good scientist chooses a problem of Nature, imagines an answer, and then tests to see whether imagination has been right. In science, imagination leads the way. Without imagination, without intellectual daring, science is dead.'
J. Michael Bishop (1936-)
'The rate of accumulation of knowledge or information is so vast, none of us can take it. But knowledge just adds, and you might think all this knowledge will make progress. But progress isn't based on knowledge, it's based on ideas.'
Sir James W. Black (1924-2010)
