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)
The world is full of wonders, but we often fail to see them because we are too busy looking for answers.
The essence of science is not to make things understandable, but to make them understandable in a new way.
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.
The only way to understand the world is to be open to its mysteries.
The more we learn, the more we realize how little we know.
The world is not a collection of objects, but a network of relationships.
The most important discovery is not a new fact, but a new way of thinking about facts.
The aim of science is not to make the world safe, but to make it understandable.
The universe is not a machine, but a living organism.
The greatest challenge to human understanding is not the complexity of the world, but the simplicity of our minds.
The world is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be experienced.
The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
The very existence of the quantum of action shows that the classical description of nature is an idealization, which can be applied only to phenomena in which the action involved is large compared to the quantum.
The concept of complementarity is not a philosophical speculation, but a direct consequence of the experimental facts of atomic physics.
The quantum postulate implies that any observation of atomic phenomena will involve an interaction with the agency of observation, which is not negligible.
The unanalyzable interaction between the measuring instrument and the atomic object causes the loss of the possibility of a unique space-time description.
The necessity of distinguishing between the object and the measuring instrument is a fundamental feature of quantum mechanics.
The classical description of nature is an idealization, which can be applied only to phenomena in which the action involved is large compared to the quantum.
The ultimate goal of science is to understand the universe, and the ultimate goal of understanding is to appreciate the beauty of the universe.
The world is not a stage, but a dance.
Contemporaries of Niels Bohr
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Niels Bohr (1885–1962).