Science Quotes

"I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favor of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense."

"The first law of thermodynamics can be stated: you cannot get anything out of a system than you put into it."

"The physicist may be satisfied when he has the mathematical description of the atomic events. But this is only a first step."

"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself, but nature exposed to our methods of observation."

"The fact that atomic physics is linguistically difficult should not be an objection."

"What can the atom absorb and emit? It can absorb and emit light only."

"The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks."

"A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subjectivity of the observer is brought into the very heart of atomic theory."

"Matter is composed of particles, and these particles obey the laws of quantum mechanics."

"The uncertainty principle refers to the degree of freedom we have in preparing an initial state and in measuring the final state."

"One should distinguish between the laws of nature and our knowledge of them."

"In the small world of atomic physics, everything may not be as it appears to be."

"Quantum mechanics has been found correct because we can predict what will happen."

"The atoms are like a miniature solar system with the nucleus as the sun."

"The more we know about the atomic world, the more strange it seems."

"What is the world made of? The answer has changed as physics advanced."

"The atoms are not things in themselves; they are, as it were, holes in the structure of the world."

"The interaction between observer and object causes unpredictable changes in the system being observed."

"The laws of quantum mechanics are applied to microscopic systems, not to large objects."

"I sometimes wonder if the atoms are as real as I once thought they were."

"The relationship between observer and observed is the central point of quantum theory."

"In the framework of our present knowledge, we must say that the nuclear force has no classical analogue."

"Anybody can see that it is impossible to measure position and momentum with arbitrary accuracy."

"The atoms are a heuristic principle for understanding the world, not a description of reality."

"I think that quantum mechanics has taught us more than any other theory about the nature of light."

"The measurement problem is at the heart of all quantum mechanical paradoxes."

"The existence of the photon cannot be doubted, even though its properties are paradoxical."

"In modern physics we have learned that nature cannot be described by a complete set of commuting variables."

"What we call physical objects are really patterns of energy."

"I have always been troubled by the gap between the mathematical theory and the physical interpretation."