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Subject:Occam's razor From:SANDRA CHARKER <scharker -at- OZEMAIL -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Tue, 6 Jun 1995 20:28:31 +1000
From the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations 3rd ed.
"William Occam c. 1280-1349
"_Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem._
"No more things should be presumed to exist than are absolutely necessary.
"'Occam's Razor'. Ancient philosophical principle, often attributed to Occam,
but used by many earlier thinkers. Not found in this form in his writings,
though he frequently used similar expressions, e.g. _Pluralitas non est ponenda
sine necessitate_ (Quadlibeta, c.1324, V. Q.i)."
They don't give credit for this Latin form, or for the translation.
_Occam's Razor_ is also the title of a 15 minute radio programme broadcast on
Sunday mornings by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Science Unit. A
good way to start a Sunday.
FWIW, I think that the village from which William the Razor took his name now
spells itself Ockham. I doubt this William would have been any fussier about
the spelling of his surname than William of Stratford was.
