- In 2002 I rented a car and drove from Amman, Jordan to Petra over the course of several days. One day I left Madaba on my way to Karak with Dhiban along the day; I picked up a police officer who was hitchhiking. This was fortunate, for not only was he good company, he helped me cross a very steep and massive canyon. I dropped him off near Karak.
- I remarked, moreover, with respect to experiments, that they become always more necessary the more one is advanced in knowledge; for, at the commencement, it is better to make use only of what is spontaneously presented to our senses, and of which we cannot remain ignorant, provided we bestow on it any reflection, however slight, than to concern ourselves about more uncommon and recondite phænomena: the reason of which is, that the more uncommon often only mislead us so long as the causes of the more ordinary are still unknown; and the circumstances upon which they depend are almost always so special and minute as to be highly difficult to detect.