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 mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.
In science, we must be prepared to abandon our most cherished beliefs if the evidence demands it.
The atom has changed everything, save man's thinking. And thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.
Beauty is the first test; there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics.
The scientist only imposes two things, that everything be measurable and that everything be connected.
Life is a process of learning; we learn by doing.
Quantum mechanics has taught us that the world is not as it seems.
The older a man gets, the more he realizes that wisdom comes not from knowledge alone, but from understanding.
In the game of science, the referee is experiment.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it must be built on understanding.
Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe.
The true mark of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.
Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.
Happiness is not an ideal of reason but of imagination.
Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
The only way to deal with the future is to function efficiently today.
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.
Contemporaries of Max Born
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Max Born (1882–1970).