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)
We cannot predict the outcome of a single quantum event with certainty.
The idea of an electron as a tiny billiard ball is utterly misleading.
The world is not deterministic, but statistically determined.
The classical concept of an individual object with definite properties is an idealization.
The fundamental laws of nature are statistical, not deterministic.
The concept of 'free will' might find a new interpretation in quantum mechanics.
The human mind plays a role in shaping reality, at least at the quantum level.
The universe is more mysterious and less predictable than classical physics led us to believe.
The idea of a 'hidden variable' that would restore determinism is a futile hope.
We must learn to live with the inherent uncertainty of the quantum world.
The revolution brought about by quantum mechanics is more profound than that of relativity.
The classical notion of 'cause and effect' is an approximation that breaks down at the atomic level.
The world is not made of solid, immutable objects, but of interacting fields of probability.
The success of quantum mechanics forces us to abandon our intuitive understanding of reality.
The concept of 'truth' itself becomes more nuanced in the quantum realm.
Science is not about discovering absolute truths, but about building models that work.
The mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics is more fundamental than any classical picture.
The universe is not a machine, but a dynamic, probabilistic system.
The idea of a completely objective, observer-independent reality is a classical prejudice.
We are not detached observers of the universe, but participants in its unfolding.
Contemporaries of Max Born
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Max Born (1882–1970).