Quotations by:
    Heisenberg, Werner


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; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language.

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) German physicist
(Attributed)

Quoted in The New York Times Book Review (8 Mar 1992)
 
Added on 26-Jun-09 | Last updated 25-Jun-09
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An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them.

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) German physicist
Physics and Beyond : Encounters and Conversation (1971)
 
Added on 22-Jun-09 | Last updated 22-Jun-09
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We often know that [concepts] can be applied to a wide range of inner or outer experience, but we practically never know precisely the limits of their applicability. This is true even of the simplest and most general concepts like ‘existence’ and ‘space and time’. Therefore, it will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth.

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) German physicist
Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (1958), lectures at U. of St. Andrews, Scotland (Winter 1955-56)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 18-Jun-09
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We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.

Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) German physicist
Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (1958), lectures at U. of St. Andrews, Scotland (Winter 1955-56)
 
Added on 1-Feb-04 | Last updated 18-Jun-09
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