Werner Heisenberg quotes - page 2

Even for the physicist the description in plain language will be the criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached. (Werner Heisenberg)
The elementary particles in Plato's Timaeus are finally not substance but mathematical forms. "All things are numbers" is a sentence attributed to Pythagoras. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Therefore, the mathematical forms that represent the elementary particles will be solutions of some eternal law of motion for matter. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The law of causality is no longer applied in quantum theory and the law of conservation of matter is no longer true for the elementary particles. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The elementary particles are certainly not eternal and indestructible units of matter, they can actually be transformed into each other. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The equation of motion holds at all times, it is in this sense eternal. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
I remember discussions withwhich 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:? View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Reality is in the observations, not in the electron. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
I am the one who knocks. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Natural science does not simply describe and explain nature; it is part of the interplay between nature and ourselves; it describes nature as exposed to our nature of questioning. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
If nature leads us to mathematical forms of great simplicity and beauty. (Werner Heisenberg)
Any concepts or words which have been formed in the past through the interplay between the world and ourselves are not really sharply defined with respect to their meaning: that is to say, we do not know exactly how far they will help us in finding our way in the world. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The interest of research workers has frequently been focused on the phenomenon of regularly shaped crystals suddenly forming from a liquid. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
In modern quantum theory there can be no doubt that the elementary particles will finally also be mathematical forms. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The words "position" and "velocity" of an electron... seemed perfectly well defined... and in fact they were clearly defined concepts within the mathematical framework of Newtonian mechanics. But actually they were not well defined, as seen from the relations of uncertainty. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
However the development proceeds in detail, the path so far traced by the quantum theory indicates that an understanding of those still unclarified features of atomic physics can only be acquired by foregoing visualization and objectification to an extent greater than that customary hitherto. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Light and matter are both single entities, and the apparent duality arises in the limitations of our language. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The Greek philosophers thought of static forms. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Insistence on the postulate of complete logical clarification would make science impossible. We are reminded... of the old wisdom that one who insists on never uttering an error must remain silent. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments? View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The violent reaction on the recent development of modern physics can only be understood when one realises that here the foundations of physics have started moving; and that this motion has caused the feeling that the ground would be cut from science. (Werner Heisenberg)
The physicist may be satisfied when he has the mathematical scheme and knows how to use for the interpretation of the experiments. But he has to speak about his results also to non-physicists who will not be satisfied unless some explanation is given in plain language. Even for the physicist the description in plain language will be the criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
Both matter and radiation possess a remarkable duality of character, as they sometimes exhibit the properties of waves, at other times those of particles. Now it is obvious that a thing cannot be a form of wave motion and composed of particles at the same time - the two concepts are too different. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
If nature leads us to mathematical forms of great simplicity and beauty - by forms I am referring to coherent systems of hypothesis, axioms, etc. - to forms that no one has previously encountered, we cannot help thinking that they are "true," that they reveal a genuine feature of nature... You must have felt this too: The almost frightening simplicity and wholeness of relationships which nature suddenly spreads out before us and for which none of us was in the least prepared. View quote
Werner Heisenberg
The interest of research workers has frequently been focused on the phenomenon of regularly shaped crystals suddenly forming from a liquid, e.g. a supersaturated salt solution. According to the atomic theory the forming force in this process is to a certain extent the symmetry characteristic of the solution to Schrödinger's wave equation, and to that extent crystallization is explained by the atomic theory. Nevertheless this process retains a statistical and - one might almost say - historical element which cannot be further reduced: even when the state of the liquid is completely known before crystallization, the shape of the crystal is not determined by the laws of quantum mechanics. The formation of regular shapes is just far more probable than that of a shapeless lump. But the ultimate shape owes its genesis partly to an element of chance which in principle cannot be analysed further. View quote
Werner Heisenberg