Max Born
Made fundamental contributions to quantum mechanics, particularly the Born rule for calculating probabilities.
Most quoted
"It is natural that a man should consider the work of his hands or his brain to be useful and important. Therefore nobody will object to an ardent experimentalist boasting of his measurements and rather looking down on the 'paper and ink' physics of his theoretical friend, who on his part is proud of his lofty ideas and despises the dirty fingers of the other."
— from Experiment and Theory in Physics, 1943
"The human race has today the means for annihilating itself—either in a fit of complete lunacy, i.e., in a big war, by a brief fit of destruction, or by a careless handling of atomic technology, through a slow process of poisoning and of deterioration in its genetic structure."
— from Letter, 1957
"The human race has today the means for annihilating itself—either in a fit of complete lunacy, i.e., in a big war, by a brief fit of destruction, or by careless handling of atomic technology, through a slow process of poisoning and of deterioration in its genetic structure."
— from Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge, 1957
All quotes by Max Born (371)
The belief that there is only one truth and that oneself is in possession of it, seems to me the root of all evil in the world.
Science is not a collection of facts, but a way of thinking about the world.
The quantum mechanics is a wonderful theory, but it is not the last word.
I am convinced that the greatest scientific discoveries are not made by logical deduction, but by intuition and imagination.
The ultimate goal of science is not to solve all problems, but to discover new ones.
The world is not a machine, but a living organism.
The most important thing in science is to ask the right questions.
The future of science depends on the education of young people.
The scientist is a man who tries to understand the world, and the artist is a man who tries to express it.
The greatest discovery of all is the discovery of oneself.
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
The progress of science is like the progress of a spiral, not a straight line.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.
The task of science is to make the world intelligible.
The scientist is not a person who gives the right answers, but one who asks the right questions.
The true value of a man is not in what he has, but in what he is.
The theory of relativity is a triumph of the human mind.
The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.
The atom is not a simple billiard ball, but a complex system of particles.
The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.
Contemporaries of Max Born
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Max Born (1882–1970).