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 description of nature requires different, mutually exclusive, but equally valid, concepts.
The very word 'atom' implies indivisibility, but we have found that atoms are divisible.
The quantum theory has forced us to revise our fundamental concepts of space, time, and causality.
The ultimate aim of science is to understand the world, not to describe it in terms of familiar images.
The quantum postulate is a new feature of natural philosophy, which forces us to abandon the classical ideal of causality.
The idea of a 'path' for an electron in an atom is a classical concept that does not apply in quantum mechanics.
The description of atomic phenomena requires a renunciation of the classical ideal of causality and a radical revision of the very idea of physical reality.
The quantum theory is not a theory of particles, but a theory of observations.
Contemporaries of Niels Bohr
Other Physicss born within 50 years of Niels Bohr (1885–1962).