Planck's principle

proper noun

The view that “science progresses one funeral at a time”, that scientific progress happens when older generations of scientists retire or die.

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Meanings

proper noun
  1. The view that “science progresses one funeral at a time”, that scientific progress happens when older generations of scientists retire or die.

    However, Planck's Principle turns out to be wrong. This can be seen through a careful examination of the work of Charles Darwin. The quintessential phase transition in science, and paradigm shift, is that of the theory of evolution by natural selection.

    2012, Samuel Arbesman, The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date, Penguin, →ISBN

Origin

Formulated by Max Planck.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Planck's principle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Planck's%20principle

MLA

“Planck's principle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Planck's%20principle. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Planck's principle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Planck's%20principle.

Source: Planck's principle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.