Enrico Fermi — "Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not wh…"
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.
Get This Quote & Author's Image Illustrated On:
Click any product to generate a realistic preview. Up to 3 at a time.
* Initial load can take up to 90 seconds — revising the preview in another color is nearly instant.
Kitchen
Apparel
Other
More from Enrico Fermi
"The fundamental problem is that the world is not simple. It is complex, and we are trying to understand it with simple ideas."
"It does not say in the Bible that all laws of nature are expressible linearly!"
"The greatest discovery of all time was made by accident."
"Don't ever tell anybody anything, or you'll never get anything done."
"I believe that the future of humanity depends on our ability to control the forces that we have unleashed."
Verification
Unverifiable
Found in 1 providers: grok
1 source checked
Understanding this quote
What it means
The quote argues that the deepest motivation for doing physics—or any pure science—is intrinsic joy and intellectual passion, not utility. Just as intimacy is pursued for its own pleasure, science is fundamentally about curiosity and wonder. Practical outcomes are welcome byproducts, but they aren't the reason scientists dedicate their lives to the work. The drive is internal, not instrumental.
Relevance to Enrico Fermi
Fermi embodied this paradox more than almost any physicist: he built the first self-sustaining nuclear reactor in 1942, producing the most consequential practical result in physics history, yet colleagues remembered his delight in elegant problems for their own sake. He pursued cosmic rays, beta decay, and quantum statistics out of pure curiosity. The bomb was a consequence; the love of the puzzle came first.
The era
Fermi worked during the mid-20th century atomic age, when physics suddenly produced the most devastating technologies in history—nuclear bombs, reactors, radar. Society fiercely debated whether scientists bore moral responsibility for their discoveries' applications. This quote asserts that fundamental research is driven by curiosity, not consequence, reflecting a tension Fermi's entire generation wrestled with as pure science became inseparable from military and political power.
AI-generated insights based on extensive research and information for context. Factual errors? Email [email protected].