p. 666
“

It seems that the best method of utilizing the sciences for purposes of analysis-and this would include the science of Administration - is to conceive of them as concentrating upon the relations existing between categories rather than as describing particular categories themselves. The various sciences or fields of investigation are not distinguished because they investigate different kinds of facts or subject matter; they differ because they have developed a specialized technique for observing different aspects of the same subject matter. A rock is an adequate subject of observation for any science whatsoever. What geology does, for example, is to restrict its observations to certain aspects of the rock; economics may look at the rock from another point-of-view, chemistry from still another, and so on through the entire range of science, Geology cannot break from the rock a fragment which is of geological interest only; the sciences are distinguished according to the viewpoint taken by each in observing the rock, not by a specific difference in content in the rock.

— Glenn Negley

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "It seems that the best method of utilizing the sciences for purposes of analysis-and this would include the science of Administration - is to conceive of them as concentrating upon the relations existing between categories rather than as describing particular categories themselves. The various sciences or fields of investigation are not distinguished because they investigate different kinds of facts or subject matter; they differ because they have developed a specialized technique for observing different aspects of the same subject matter. A rock is an adequate subject of observation for any science whatsoever. What geology does, for example, is to restrict its observations to certain aspects of the rock; economics may look at the rock from another point-of-view, chemistry from still another, and so on through the entire range of science, Geology cannot break from the rock a fragment which is of geological interest only; the sciences are distinguished according to the viewpoint taken by each in observing the rock, not by a specific difference in content in the rock." in the context of "p. 666" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Glenn Negley" (Quotes, "The Organization of Knowledge," 1949: Glenn Negley (1949), "The Organization of Knowledge," in: Albert Lepawsky (1949), Administration, p. 664-7; Text by Negley is based on Negley (1942) but seems to be rewritten.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

About Glenn Negley

Glenn Robert Negley (Nov. 5 1907 - May 15, 1981) was an American political scientist and Professor of Philosophy at the Philosophy Department of Duke University since 1946. He received his A.B. in 1930, his M.A. in 1934, both from Butler, and in 1939 his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was a visiting professor at Henley Business School in 190 and 1966.