This is one thing that physicists quite often say: the physical constants – that set of half a dozen or so numbers, constants, that physicists at present can’t explain – are very very finely tuned. Such that the end result of them is that evolution would eventually happen and we would eventually come into existence. Richard Dawkins, Minnesota Radio 2009
There does seem to be a sense in which physics has gone beyond what human intuition can understand. We shouldn’t be too surprised about that because we’re evolved to understand things that move at a medium pace at a medium scale. We can’t cope with the very tiny scale of quantum physics or the very large scale of relativity. Richard Dawkins
We physicists ... we hope for very simple laws of nature that will account for everything we see. But when we have them there will always be a question – why those laws? Steven Weinberg, interview Professor Richard Dawkins
Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it. Isaac Newton, Principia Mathematica, Laws of Motion I
The alternation of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed. ibid. Laws of Motion II
To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction; or, the mutual actions of two bodies upon each other are always equal, and directed to contrary parts. ibid. Laws of Motion III
Physics is really nothing more than a search for ultimate simplicity, but so far all we have is a kind of elegant messiness. Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything
I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night and ended almost in despair; and when at the end of the discussion I went alone for a walk in the neighbouring park I repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments? Werner Heisenberg
I think that modern physics has definitely decided in favour of Plato. In fact the smallest units of matter are not physical objects in the ordinary sense; they are forms, ideas which can be expressed unambiguously only in mathematical language. Werner Heisenberg
Our scientific work in physics consists in asking questions about nature in the language that we possess and trying to get an answer from experiment by the means at our disposal. In this way quantum theory reminds us, as Bohr has put it, of the old wisdom that when searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both players and spectators. It is understandable that in our scientific relation to nature our own activity becomes very important when we have to deal with parts of nature into which we can penetrate only by using the most elaborate tools. Werner Heisenberg, The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory 1958
There is a philosophy that says that if something is unobservable – unobservable in principle – it is not part of science. If there is no way to falsify or confirm a hypothesis, it belongs to the realm of metaphysical speculation, together with astrology and spiritualism. By that standard, most of the universe has no scientific reality – it’s just a figment of our imaginations. Leonard Susskind, The Black Hole War
Physicists have come to realize that mathematics, when used with sufficient care, is a proven pathway to truth. Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos
Physics grapples with the largest questions the universe presents. Where did the totality of reality come from? Did time have a beginning? Brian Greene
We have a closed circle of consistency here: the laws of physics produce complex systems, and these complex systems lead to consciousness, which then produces mathematics, which can then encode in a succinct and inspiring way the very underlying laws of physics that gave rise to it. Roger Penrose, The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
There are considerable mysteries surrounding the strange values that Nature’s actual particles have for their mass and charge. For example, there is the unexplained ‘fine structure constant’ ... governing the strength of electromagnetic interactions. ibid.
There is no science in this world like physics. Nothing comes close to the precision with which physics enables you to understand the world around you. It’s the laws of physics that allow us to say exactly what time the sun is going to rise. What time the eclipse is going to begin. What time the eclipse is going to end. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Physics is the only profession in which prophecy is not only accurate but routine. Neil deGrasse Tyson
Even by the standards of theoretical physicists [Paul] Dirac was a very queer bird. He was not someone you would go for a beer with. Intensely focused. Graham Farmelo, author The Strangest Man: The Life of Paul Dirac
The fundamental laws necessary for the mathematical treatment of a large part of physics and the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty lies only in the fact that application of these laws leads to equations that are too complex to be solved. Paul Dirac
The methods of theoretical physics should be applicable to all those branches of thought in which the essential features are expressible with numbers. Paul Dirac
I learnt to distrust all physical concepts as the basis for a theory. Instead one should put one’s trust in a mathematical scheme, even if the scheme does not appear at first sight to be connected with physics. One should concentrate on getting interesting mathematics. Paul Dirac
Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics. Maimonides
The greatest progress is in the sciences that study the simplest systems. So take, say, physics – greatest progress there. But one of the reasons is that the physicists have an advantage that no other branch of sciences has. If something gets too complicated, they hand it to someone else. Noam Chomsky
The observer, when he seems to himself to be observing a stone, is really, if physics is to be believed, observing the effects of the stone upon himself. Bertrand Russell
4Physics is becoming too difficult for the physicists. David Hilbert
Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle. Edward Witten
We live in a Newtonian world of Einsteinian physics ruled by Frankenstein logic. David Russell
Physics is really figuring out how to discover new things that are counterintuitive, like quantum mechanics. It’s really counterintuitive. Elon Musk
I am now convinced that theoretical physics is actually philosophy. Max Born
But why? Why did he come to Copenhagen? Copenhagen 2002 starring Stephen Rea & Daniel Craig & Francesca Annis et al, director Howard Davies, opening scene Mrs Bohr to Bohr getting off bus
There are only two things the world remembers about me. One is the Uncertainty Principle, the other is my mysterious visit to Niels Bohr in Copenhagen in 1941. ibid. Heisenberg’s commentary
The more I look back on it the more I think Heisenberg was the greatest of them all. ibid. Bohr
So what was Bohr? He was the first of us all. The father of it all. Modern atomic physics began when Bohr realised that quantum theory applied to matter as well as energy, 1913. ibid. Heisenberg’s commentary
He taught Relativity and they said it was Jewish physics. ibid. Bohr to wife
No-one is going to develop a weapon based on nuclear fission. ibid.
The ashes have become very cold indeed. ibid. Mrs Bohr
Mathematics becomes very odd when you apply it to people. ibid. Heisenberg to Bohr
Does one as a physicist have the moral right to work on the practical exploitation of atomic energy? ibid. Heisenberg to Bohr
Do you actually think uranium fission can be used for the construction of weapons? ibid. Bohr to Heisenberg
Niels Bohr says that in his considered judgment supplying a homicidal maniac with an improved instrument of mass murder is shall we say an interesting idea ... A really rather uninteresting idea. ibid. Bohr to Heisenberg
There was a report in a Stockholm newspaper that the Americans are working on an atomic bomb. ibid. Heisenberg to Bohr
You built the bomb. And used it on a living target. ibid.
The bomb would have been built whether he’d gone or not. ibid. Mrs Bohr to Heisenberg
That’s the point. Under my control. ibid. Heisenberg to Bohr, with Mrs Bohr
Sense is mathematics. ibid. Heisenberg