Max Planck — "The old pioneers of science, such as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, were deeply religi…"
The old pioneers of science, such as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, were deeply religious men.
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More from Max Planck
"A scientist is happy, not in resting on his attainments but in the steady acquisition of fresh knowledge."
"There can be no such thing as a 'pure' science, as science is always influenced by the human mind."
"It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him."
"The human spirit is capable of reaching for the stars."
"The freedom of thought and speech must be preserved in all circumstances."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Planck points out that the founders of modern science were devout believers. Their drive to understand nature came from faith that the universe was orderly and intelligible because a rational creator designed it. He rejects the idea that science and religion are natural enemies, arguing instead that rigorous investigation of reality and sincere spiritual conviction have historically fueled each other rather than standing in opposition.
Relevance to Max Planck
Planck founded quantum theory in 1900 yet remained a committed Lutheran who served as a church elder in Berlin. He wrote essays like Religion and Natural Science arguing both pursue truth from opposite directions. Having watched colleagues weaponize science against faith, and having endured the Nazi execution of his son Erwin, Planck leaned on religious conviction. Citing Galileo, Kepler, and Newton let him defend his own unfashionable blend of rigorous physics and sincere belief.
The era
Planck worked while logical positivism and Soviet materialism were declaring religion obsolete and incompatible with real science. Freud, Russell, and the Vienna Circle pushed secularism as the mark of a modern mind. Meanwhile relativity and quantum mechanics were dismantling classical certainties, making some scientists triumphalist. Invoking the piety of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton pushed back against that narrative, reminding interwar Europe that the scientific revolution itself grew from thinkers who saw no conflict between laboratory and chapel.
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