Paul Dirac
science tell understand known poetry
“In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
science research measure idea thinking
“The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
people human activity money primitive
“People who equate all the different kinds of human activity to money are taking too primitive a view of things.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
beauty equation progress
“If one is working from the point of view of getting beauty into one's equation, ... one is on a sure line of progress.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
science poetry simple incompatible
“The aim of science is to make difficult things understandable in a simpler way; the aim of poetry is to state simple things in an incomprehensible way. The two are incompatible.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
mathematics physics tool mind form
“Mathematics is only a tool and one should learn to hold the physical ideas in one's mind without reference to the mathematical form.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
age chill physict fear thirty year
“Age is, of course, a fever chill
That every physicist must fear.
He's better dead than living still
When once he's past his thirtieth year.”
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
theory mathematics beauty correct ugly experiment
"A theory with mathematical beauty is more likely to be correct than an ugly one that fits some experimental data."
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
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"Scientific progress is measured in units of courage, not intelligence."
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
physical law mathematical beauty
"A physical law must possess mathematical beauty."
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
quantum mechanics explain chemistry physics
"Quantum mechanics has explained all of chemistry and most of physics."
—Paul Dirac (1902-1984)