Physics education research, electronic materials, and the musings of Christopher Moore, Ph.D.
Physics education research, electronic materials, and the musings of Christopher Moore, Ph.D.
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Ok, let's get this party started.
As you have probably seen, on the front page I have a script that rotates a random quote by a physicist on each page load. I need some more quotes, so give me have your favorites in this thread.
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You can always use one of the ones in my signature... I find Hawking's quote particularly profound, and Feynman's quote is well... Just Feynman. = )
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I disagree with Hawking. A model doesn't determine action. As cognitive beings we can make choices. We are only limited by the boundaries of the model.
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But what if the model's boundry prevents us from being able to determine the model? What good is our cognitive nature then? Perturbative approaches don't count as complete models.
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A scientific model is just something we use to predict future events and behaviors. If it doesn't allow for prediction, it is useless. If we can't test its predications, it is useless. Perturbative approaches, although imcomplete, are models. Some are very good and yield very accurate results -- meaning very close to what is observed to happen.
A proper scienific question begins with "how"-- "why" belongs to philosophers. I can not test the why, but I can test the how. Science is only good up to the point that we can no longer observe and measure. Philosophy and religion take over at that point.
So what is the ultimate underlying mechanism that explains why the universe exists and in the manner that it does? Science cannot answer that. So I do not believe there will ever be a "Final Theory" in the absolute sence. Will we unify the forces? Yes. Will we simplfy the mess of thousands of particles? Yes. Will there be more explaining to do after we do these things? Yes.
Concerning choice: since the beginning of the universe, there have been zillions of interaction, each with zillions of possibilities. There are literally an infinite number of different worlds we could have now if just one action had a different result. I believe I choose my own destiny. But this is not a belief I can support with science.
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The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.
—Albert Einstein
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"Who ordered that?"
—Isidor I. Rabi (upon learning of the surprising discovery of the muon)
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"Work is only work, if you are wishing you were studying something else" i love that one
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Jamesy wrote:
"Work is only work, if you are wishing you were studying something else" i love that one
And who, may I ask, is the author?
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“Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one’s living at it.”
—Albert Einstein
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The author is a lecturer at university of st andrews if i remember correctly, but ill clarify his name as soon as possible.
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It's only work if you'd rather be somewhere else.
-Unknown.
Last edited by -KaiZer- (2004-12-05 21:23:18)
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"All science is either physics or stamp collecting." -Ernest Rutherford
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"A hundred times
every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours
of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in
the same measure as I have received and am still receiving."
-Albert Einstein
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“The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”
—Albert Einstein
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"It is the entire tragedy of human relationships that Newton's Third Law is not true in that sphere. E.g. If Alan is strongly attracted to Betty, it does not follow that Betty is equally strongly attached to Alan. In fact, Betty is mildly repelled by Alan. Thus, Betty runs away from Alan, and Alan runs after her. The whole system spontaneously acquires momentum to the right."
-Professor Paul Stevenson, PHYS 301, Rice University
It's not famous, but it makes me laugh.
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"In physics, you don't have to go around making trouble for yourself - nature does it for you."
-Frank Wilczek
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I have one!
Physicests and baseball players love their work. Others just go to work.
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if you want to make your chemistry teacher mad, say this:
Chemistry is just applied quantum mechanics.
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HI,, everyone
I feel compelled to write,,, because Quotes are best things in my life
Well, my favorites are so many, but I’ll pick up some of them that might interest ye….
“When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second.
When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour.
That’s relativity.”
-Albert Einstein
“Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking
What nobody has thought”
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
“An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that
can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them”
-Werner Heisenberg
“If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
-Isaac Newton
“Electric force is defined as something which causes motion of electric charge;
An electric charge is something which exerts electric force”
-Arthur Eddington
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