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)
We are part of the universe, and the universe is part of us.
The only way to understand the universe is to embrace its paradoxes.
There are some things so serious you have to laugh at them.
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
For a parallel to the lesson of atomic theory...[we must turn] to those kinds of epistemological problems with which already thinkers like the Buddha and Lao Tzu have been confronted.
Isolated material particles are abstractions, their properties being definable and observable only through their interaction with other systems.
The meaning of life consists in the fact that it makes no sense to say that life has no meaning.
When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts as with creating images.
The smallest unit of reality is not the object, but the interaction.
We must be clear that when it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry.
The atomic theory shows that the so-called inanimate world and the organic world are inseparably connected.
I go into the Upanishads to ask questions.
The complementarity of space-time pictures and causality is the central point of the quantum theory.
Stop telling God what to do.
Einstein, don't tell God what to do.
A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a great truth.
It is a great pity that human beings cannot find all of their satisfaction in scientific contemplativeness.
The very nature of the quantum theory thus forces us to regard the space-time coordination and the claim of causality, the union of which characterizes the classical theories, as complementary but exclusive features of the description.
Our experiments are questions that we put to Nature.
The old saying 'divided we fall' seems to be particularly true in science.
Contemporaries of Niels Bohr
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Niels Bohr (1885–1962).