Atoms in the laboratory are weird stuff, behaving like active agents rather than inert substances. They make unpredictable choices between alternative possibilities according to the laws of quantum mechanics. It appears that mind, as manifested by the capacity to make choices, is to some extent inherent in every atom.
Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) English-American theoretical physicist, mathematician, futurist
“Progress in Religion,” Templeton Prize acceptance speech, Washington National Cathedral (9 May 2000)
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Quotations about:
physics
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I hope that the notion of a final statement of the laws of physics will prove as illusory as the notion of a formal decision process for all mathematics. If it should turn out that the whole of physical reality can be described by a finite set of equations, I would be disappointed, I would feel that the Creator had been uncharacteristically lacking in imagination.
Freeman Dyson (1923-2020) English-American theoretical physicist, mathematician, futurist
Infinite in All Directions, Part 1, ch. 3 “Manchester and Athens” (1988)
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Based on his Gifford Lectures, Aberdeen, Scotland (Apr-Nov 1985).
Look, I tried the cat experiment. On the third trial, the cat was dead. On each of the subsequent 413 trials, it remained dead. Am I doing something wrong?
James Nicoll (b. 1961) Canadian reviewer, editor
Usenet post, “SCHRODINGER’S CAT??” sci.physics (11 Mar 1992)
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Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.
Edward Teller (1908-2003) Hungarian-American theoretical physicist
Conversations on the Dark Secrets of Physics, ch. 10 (1991) [with Wendy Teller and Wilson Talley]
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If a man were to leap off the Eiffel Tower, mathematics could predict how long it would take him to hit the ground, but not why he chose to jump in the first place.
Ian Stewart b. 1945) English mathematician, author
Does God Play Dice? (1989)
Science is like sex: sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not the reason we are doing it.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
(Attributed)
Many variations can be found for this quotation (none of them with citation); the word "Science" and "Physics" are often interchanged:As noted here, Frank Oppenheimer (a colleague of Feynman's) was quoted saying, "There's a lot of practical fruits to understanding, but it's like sex. There are practical fruits to sex, but nobody would say that's why you do it, normally." Feynman and Oppenheimer may well have collaborated on the general phrasing, or taken it from one another.
- "Science is like sex, it has its practical purposes, but that's not why we do it."
- "Science is like sex. Sometimes something useful comes out, but that is not why we are doing it."
- Physics is like sex. Sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it."
For those who want some proof that physicists are human, the proof is in the idiocy of all the different units which they use for measuring energy.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
The Character of Physical Laws ch. 3 “The Great Conservation Principles” (1965)
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We cannot define anything precisely! If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers who sit opposite each other, one saying to the other, “You don’t know what you are talking about!”. The second one says, “What do you mean by know? What do you mean by talking? What do you mean by you?” and so on.
Richard Feynman (1918-1988) American physicist
The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume I, 8-2 “Motion” (20 Oct 1961)
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