Lev Landau
Made fundamental contributions to many areas of theoretical physics, including quantum mechanics, condensed matter physics, and cosmology.
Most quoted
"There are three kinds of scientists: those who are good at calculations, those who are good at experiments, and those who are good at talking. I belong to the third category."
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution."
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science."
All quotes by Lev Landau (306)
Mathematics is the language of physics. Without it, one wanders about in a dark labyrinth.
A lecture should be a guide to thought, not a substitute for it.
I divide theoretical physicists into two categories: those who solve problems and those who create them.
Landau's Ten Commandments: The list of fundamental problems in physics.
A theory must be beautiful. If it is not beautiful, it is probably wrong.
There is no such thing as applied science, only applications of science.
To understand is to perceive patterns.
The fundamental laws of nature are simple, but their consequences are enormously complex.
In physics, you don't have to be right. You only have to be not wrong in a trivial way.
A physicist is complete only when he is able to solve a problem in at least three different ways.
The more success the quantum theory has, the sillier it looks.
No one can truly understand quantum mechanics. One just gets used to it.
The theory of phase transitions is the paradise of theoretical physics.
I am not a genius, I am simply curious.
The duty of a scientist is to search for truth, not to please the authorities.
A good experiment is one that gives the theorist something to think about.
The difference between mathematics and physics is that physics describes the real world.
The most important tool of the theoretical physicist is a wastebasket.
In the Soviet Union, we have two problems: the fools and the roads. And the fools are in charge of the roads.
A physicist who only does calculations is like a musician who only plays scales.
Contemporaries of Lev Landau
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Lev Landau (1908–1968).