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Werner Heisenberg Quotes

15 Great Quotes By Werner Heisenberg, The Pioneer Of Quantum Mechanics

Famous As: German Theoretical Physicist and One of the Main Pioneers of the Theory of Quantum Mechanics

Born On: December 5, 1901

Died On: February 1, 1976

Born In: Würzburg, Germany

Died At Age: 74

Werner Heisenberg was a German physicist, philosopher and winner of the coveted Noble Prize. He was a very intelligent student since childhood and went on to do his doctorate from the University of Munich. During this period he was highly influenced by the great physicist, Niels Bohr, and collaborated with him on research. He further served as a professor at the ‘University of Leipzig’ and travelled to various countries to deliver lectures. He came up with the uncertainty principle which became one of the significant principles in physics. This was followed by his most notable work of discovering the neutron and thus drawing the neutron-proton atom model. He described this principle in three research papers which were acknowledged to be historic for the subject of Quantum Physics. He contributed significantly on how to develop a nuclear bomb during the Second World War. He even served as the President of the ‘Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’ and the chairman for the ‘Max Planck Institute for Physics’. Apart from the Noble Prize, he was also honored with the ‘Max Planck Medal of the German Physical Society’. We have excerpted few most notable quotations and sayings by the renowned physicist that will surely help you in knowing the subject better. Read on a compilation of quotes and thoughts by Werner Heisenberg.

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Scientists

Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.

Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.
Think
Werner Heisenberg

The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.

The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.
You God Will
Werner Heisenberg

What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.

What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.
Nature
Werner Heisenberg

There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them.

There are things that are so serious that you can only joke about them.
You
Werner Heisenberg

The reality we can put into words is never reality itself.

The reality we can put into words is never reality itself.
Never
Werner Heisenberg

Quantum theory provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can only speak of it in images and parables.

Quantum theory provides us with a striking illustration of the fact that we can fully understand a connection though we can only speak of it in images and parables.
Werner Heisenberg

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject, and how to avoid them.

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

Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word 'understanding.

Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word 'understanding.
Time Hope
Werner Heisenberg

[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.

[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.
Werner Heisenberg

Revere those things beyond science which really matter and about which it is so difficult to speak.

Revere those things beyond science which really matter and about which it is so difficult to speak.
Werner Heisenberg

We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but
nature exposed to our method of questioning.

We have to remember that what we observe is not nature in itself but nature exposed to our method of questioning.
Nature
Werner Heisenberg

Whether we like it or not, modern ways are going to alter and in part destroy traditional customs and values.

Whether we like it or not, modern ways are going to alter and in part destroy traditional customs and values.
Like
Werner Heisenberg

My mind was formed by studying philosophy, Plato and that sort of thing.

My mind was formed by studying philosophy, Plato and that sort of thing.
Werner Heisenberg

In classical physics, science started from the belief – or should one say, from the illusion? – that we could describe the world, or least parts of the world, without any reference to ourselves.

In classical physics, science started from the belief – or should one say, from the illusion? – that we could describe the world, or least parts of the world, without any reference to ourselves.
Belief
Werner Heisenberg