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)
I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actual philosophy.
Science is not a game, but a serious search for truth.
The quantum theory has been a great success, but it has not made us any wiser.
The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
Physicists are like children playing on the seashore, delighted by the occasional smooth pebble or pretty shell, while the great ocean of truth lies undiscovered before them.
The world is not as simple as we would like it to be.
I am a firm believer in the power of the human mind, but I am also aware of its limitations.
Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it.
I have often said that the only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing.
The more I study, the more I am convinced that the world is a mystery.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
I never think of the future – it comes soon enough.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.
If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants.
I am not a genius; I am just passionately curious.
Science is not a 'philosophy' and has no business to be one. It is a method of acquiring knowledge, and its results are facts, not beliefs.
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.
The ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate truth.
The physicist, like every other scientist, is a human being. He has a life, a family, friends, and a country. He has a conscience and a sense of responsibility.
Contemporaries of Max Born
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Max Born (1882–1970).