Niels Bohr
Pioneer of quantum theory and atomic structure
Most quoted
"The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images, parables, and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer. But that does not mean that it is not a genuine reality. And complementarity, by the way, is not a new invention of mine. It is, in fact, as old as language itself. We have to be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images and establishing connections."
— from Interview with Aage Petersen
"The fact that religions through the ages have spoken in images, parables, and paradoxes means simply that there are no other ways of grasping the reality to which they refer. But that does not mean that it is not a genuine reality. And the fact that this reality is not accessible to us in the same way as material reality makes it no less real."
— from Attributed
"The very nature of the quantum theory thus forces us to regard the space-time co-ordination and the claim of causality, the union of which characterizes the classical theories, as complementary but exclusive features of the description, symbolizing the idealization of observation and definition respectively."
— from Atomic Theory and the Description of Nature, 1929
All quotes by Niels Bohr (768)
Truth and clarity are complementary.
We are suspended in language. Our task is to communicate experience and ideas to others.
The goal of science is to make sense of the world, not to explain it away.
The more we learn about the world, the more we realize how much we don't know.
The atom is not a thing, but a process.
The ultimate truth is that there is no ultimate truth.
Science is not a game of perfect answers, but a game of better questions.
The world is not as we see it, but as we interpret it.
The very act of observing changes the observed.
The aim of science is to understand the world, not to control it.
The more deeply we penetrate into the mysteries of nature, the more we are struck by the beauty and harmony of its laws.
The meaning of life is not to be found in any single answer, but in the ongoing process of questioning and discovery.
The world is not made of things, but of events.
The path to knowledge is paved with doubt.
The only way to avoid making mistakes is to do nothing.
The future is not something we enter. The future is something we create.
The purpose of science is to make the complex simple, not the simple complex.
The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
The fundamental problem of quantum mechanics is not to describe the behavior of particles, but to describe the behavior of observers.
The most important thing is to never stop questioning.
Contemporaries of Niels Bohr
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Niels Bohr (1885–1962).