D.M. Barringer

"The great investigator is primarily and preeminently the man who is rich in hypotheses. The man who can produce but one cherishes and champions that one as his own, and is blind to its faults. With such men, the testing of alternative hypotheses is accomplished only through controversy. Crucial observations are warped by prejudice, and the triumph of truth is delayed."

G.K. Gilbert, "The Origin of Hypotheses, Illustrated by the Discussion of a Topographic Problem", quoted in Hoyt, Coon Mountain Controversies, p. 38

"Of course I had not been at the crater one day before I knew that the crater was an impact crater..."

Letter of D.M. Barringer to Elihu Thomson, 4/25/1911, quoted in Abrahams, Heroic Efforts at Meteor Crater