No one will ever know how many people have ever thought of an idea but never strove to prove it for the reason that the number would probably be too big to count. In fact, compared to the few people who went above and beyond in order to provide the world with evidence of their ideas, the number would surely be surprisingly large. The quote, "In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not to the man to whom the idea first occurred" said by Sir William Osler is definitely correct. It is saying that even if you think of an idea, you're not going to get recognized for it unless you offer the world proof. In science, nothing is ever accepted without facts. You need certain information so that the world world at large will accept and believe your idea. Without this, you are just another wannabe famous discoverer (or scientist). For instance, maybe one day you suddenly thought of a brilliant idea and you tried to present it to the world. No one would believe you and everyone would just pass it off as nonsense. On the other hand, had you worked to gather evidence to support your theory, you could have changed the world for the better. In addition, on a slightly different note, imagine someone else thought of the exact same idea a little later and actually went to great lengths to try to provide proof to the world and succeeded. They, not you, would get the recognition and publicity for thinking of the idea even though you were the one who first thought of it. Basically, I think the quote is saying that you have to work to convince the world so that you can receive credit for what you thought of.
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