Nullius in verba
{{Short description|Latin for "no one's words", as in "take nobody's word for it"; motto of the Royal Society}}
{{Italic title}}
File:Coat_of_arms_of_the_Royal_Society.svg of the Royal Society with the motto Nullius in verba along the bottom]]
{{Lang|la|Nullius in verba}} (Latin for "no one's words" or "take nobody's word for it") is the motto of the Royal Society. John Evelyn and other fellows of the Royal Society chose the motto soon after the Society's founding in 1660.{{cite book|last=Hunter|first=Michael Cyril William|title=Establishing the New Science: The Experience of the Early Royal Society|year=1995|publisher=Boydell Press|isbn=0851155065|page=17|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T8YHw7bRx2wC&q=nullius&pg=PA17}}
Meaning and etymology
The Royal Society website says that the motto is "an expression of the determination of Fellows to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts determined by experiment."{{Cite web |title=History of the Royal Society |url=https://royalsociety.org/about-us/history/ |access-date=19 July 2021 |website=The Royal Society}}
The phrase comes from Horace's Epistle (Book I, Epistle I) to his benefactor Maecenas, where he claims not to be devoted to any particular sect but is rather an eclectic by nature.{{cite book|last=Shuckburgh|first=E.S.|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_EJEnVxkMpkIC|title= The Epistles of Horace, Book I|publisher=Cambridge|year=1888|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_EJEnVxkMpkIC/page/n26 1]}} (Latin){{cite book|last=Francis|first=Philip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wAqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA9|title= Horace Vol. II|publisher=Harper & Brothers|year=1846|page=9}} (English translation){{cite book|last=Horace|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FJooAAAAYAAJ|title=The Works of Horace, Vol. II|publisher=Davidson|year=1753|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FJooAAAAYAAJ/page/n225 206]}} (see footnote) The motto was extracted from the first of two hexameters, as indicated in bold:
{{lang|la|Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri, – quo me cumque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes.}}Horace: Epistles, Book I, epistle I, lines 14 and 15
(Not bound to swear by the words of a master; where the storm drives me I turn in for shelter.)
The minor planet known as 11059 Nulliusinverba in the asteroid belt is named after the expression.[http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=11059 (11059) Nulliusinverba], International Astronomical Union, Minor Planet Center The phrase is also widely used and cited elsewhere.{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330044317/https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2017/jan/22/take-nobodys-word-for-it-evidence-and-authority-in-a-world-of-propaganda|archivedate=2017-03-30|url-status=live|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/life-and-physics/2017/jan/22/take-nobodys-word-for-it-evidence-and-authority-in-a-world-of-propaganda|title=Take nobody's word for it – evidence and authority in a world of propaganda|publisher=The Guardian|website=theguardian.com|first=Jon|last=Butterworth|year=2017|location=London|authorlink=Jon Butterworth}}{{cite journal|author=Anon|title=Editorial: Nullius in verba|journal=Nature Physics|volume=12|issue=9|year=2016|pages=817|issn=1745-2473|doi=10.1038/nphys3890|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|url=http://www.badscience.net/2010/06/nullius-in-verba-in-verba-nullius/|authorlink=Ben Goldacre|first=Ben|last=Goldacre|title=Nullius in verba. In verba? Nullius!|year=2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311200245/http://www.badscience.net/2010/06/nullius-in-verba-in-verba-nullius/|archivedate=2016-03-11|website=badscience.net}}{{cite journal|last1=Amonette|first1=William E.|last2=English|first2=Kirk L.|last3=Ottenbacher|first3=Kenneth J.|title=Nullius in Verba|journal=Sports Medicine|volume=40|issue=6|year=2010|pages=449–457|issn=0112-1642|doi=10.2165/11531970-000000000-00000|pmc=3081786|pmid=20524711}}{{cite journal|last1=Stirling|first1=Andy|title=Intolerance: retain healthy scepticism|journal=Nature|volume=471|issue=7338|authorlink=Andy Stirling|year=2011|pages=305|issn=0028-0836|doi=10.1038/471305a|doi-access=free}}{{cite web|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606123917/http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/nullius-in-verba-take-nobodys-word-for-it/|archivedate=2016-06-06|url=http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/nullius-in-verba-take-nobodys-word-for-it/|website=cambridgenetwork.co.uk|location=Cambridge|first=Martin|last=Livermore|title=Nullius in verba: take nobody's word for it. The Royal Society should encourage more debate, says The Scientific Alliance|year=2013|publisher=Cambridge Network}}
References
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nullius In Verba}}
Category:History of the Royal Society
Category:Latin philosophical phrases