whies and wherefores

Example Sentences

• "How such one sided superficial testimony can have so much influence with an intelligent court is beyond the common comprehension. A case in point, decided a few years ago, was in which a professional expert, “a civil and mechanical engineer” professed to be “posted” in “the whies and wherefores” of all things, especially, just then, of turbine wheels and the intricacies of their construction, having “studied considerably on the action of” the same, “and how the water acts upon them, having read various books on the subject, commencing with the first turbine nearly thirty years ago.”"
• "The working underwriter, like the working engineer and the practical builder, cannot have the scientific education, the experience or the time to dig into the whies and wherefores of each established figure applying to each separate condition, and must have a schedule that gives results, without arguments or reasons, which can be applied directly and intelligently."
• "One consequence of this belief is that successful innovations cannot receive any simple explanation and above all, cannot be steered. Each concrete case has specific characteristics, and although the whies and wherefores of success or failure may be explained afterward, a forehand definition of the prerequisites for controlling the process is impossible."
• "There is no single all-purpose programme; the first thing to do is to work with the population at analysing its behaviour, understanding the whies and wherefores of any given act, and its consequences; then, later on, an attempt is made, in collaboration with the families involved, to work out possible improvements."