Freeman Dyson - Infinite in all directions - 1988:

"Cosmology is the study of the abstract structure of the universe in the large, biology is the study of its most intricate details. At various times in the historical development of science, one side or the other of these dichotomies has been overemphasized. Sometimes unity and abstract structure are overemphasized. Then the universe is seen as the solution of a finite set of equations, the equations of mathematical cosmology and the equation of superstrings, and once we have these equations right the remaining tasks of science are regarded as little more than butterfly-collecting. Sometimes diversity and richness of detail are overemphasized. Then the universe is seen as infinite in all directions, but without any backbone of mathematical structure to give it coherence."

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"The mainstream of biology is the domain of the diversifiers, the domain of events numerous and uncoordinated, flaunting their freedom from formula. But when a unifier like Darwin or Crick arrives on the scene, he is not ignored. ... I am suggesting that there may come a time when physics will be willing to learn from biology as biology has been willing to learn from physics, a time when physics will accept the endless diversity of nature as one of its central themes, just as biology has accepted the unity of the genetic coding apparatus as one of its central dogmas."