Favorite Quotations

Quotes by Notable Scientists about Science & Faith

James Clerk Maxwell

"Father of modern physics".  Maxwell's equations describe the nature of static and moving electrical and magnetic charges, and the relationship that exists between both. They further suggest that light is in fact a type of electromagnetic wave or a form of electromagnetic radiation, and this theoretical idea helped Marconi to invent the radio.

• “Almighty God, who has created man in Thine own image, and made him a living soul that he might seek after Thee, and have dominion over Thy creatures, teach us to study the works of Thy hands, that we may subdue the earth to our use, and strengthen the reason for Thy service; so to receive Thy blessed Word, that we may believe on Him whom Thou has sent, to give us the knowledge of salvation and the remission of sins. All of which we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ, our Lord.”

• Science is incompetent to reason upon the creation of matter itself out of nothing. We have reached the utmost limit of our thinking faculties when we have admitted that because matter cannot be eternal and self-existent it must have been created.

Max Planck

 "Father of quantum physics". Quantum theory revolutionized our understanding of atomic and subatomic processes, just as Albert Einstein’s theories of relativity revolutionized our understanding of gravity, space, and time. 

• “Both religion and science need for their activities the belief in God, and moreover God stands for the former in the beginning, and for the latter at the end of the whole thinking. For the former, God represents the basis, for the latter – the crown of any reasoning concerning the world-view." Max Planck, Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth Verlag, 1958, 27”

James Prescott Joule 

thermodynamics, conservation of energy

• “After the knowledge of, and obedience to, the will of God, the next aim must be to know something of his attributes of wisdom, power and goodness as evidenced by His handiwork.”

• "It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than 
an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed."

Sir William Thomson, Lord Kelvin

Formulator of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics.

• Do not be afraid of being free thinkers. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God, which is the foundation of all Religion. You will find science not antagonistic, but helpful to Religion.

Louis Pasteur

Father of bacteriology

• “The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator. Science brings men nearer to God.”

Galileo Galilei 

Father of observational astornomy

• The laws of nature are written by the hand of God in the language of mathematics."  Galileo Galilei (Il Saggiatore, 1623)

Johannes Kepler 

Laws of planetary motion

• I had the intention of becoming a theologian… but now I see how God is, by my endeavours, also glorified in astronomy, for “the heavens declare the glory of God”.

• "O, Almighty God, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Thee!"

Sir Isaac Newton

pioneer of modern physics

• “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by men who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.”

George Washington Carver 

African American botanist and inventor 

Invented numerous uses for the peanut and other plants

• "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."

Tycho Brahe

"Father of observational astronomy" collected data necessary for development of the laws of planetary motion

• "Those who study the stars have God for a teacher." 

Michael Yearly

Pastor, The Church at Rocky Peak

• Pursuit of Truth - Norm is the guide referenced in the mountain climbing story.

Quotes by Notable Scientists about Science

Johannes Kepler

Discovered the three laws of planetary motion. 

• "The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment."

Louis Pasteur

French biologist & chemist, 1822-1895

Developed the process of pasteurization and helped establish the germ theory of disease.  He was a co-founder of bacteriology, and developed new vaccines. 

• "Science belongs to no one country."

• "In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind."

Marie Curie

Pioneer in the field of radioactivity  

• "All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child. ... It was like a new world opened to me, ...which I was at last permitted to know in all liberty."

Edwin Hubble

Discovered cosmological redshift and laid the foundation for physical cosmology.  He was the first to discover galaxies beyond the Milky Way.

• "Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science."

Nikola Tesla

Inventor of polyphase power distribution systems and the AC motor which lead to the second industrial revolution.

• "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success."

Isaac Newton

Discovered the universal law of gravitation and laws of motion.  He laid the foundations for classical mechanics and the development of calculus.

• "I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."

• "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than to any other talent."

• "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

Wernher Von Braun

Father of the American space program and chief architect of the Saturn V rocket that took men to the moon. 

• "Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing." 

Thomas Alva Edison

Established the first industrial research laboratory.  He was one of the most prolific inventors of all time, inventing a sound recording device (phonograph), motion pictures, a practical incandescent light bulb, and had 1090 inventions for which he received patents.

• "I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work."

• "Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." 

• "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

• "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."

Albert Einstein

Formulated special and general theories of relativity and made significant contributions to quantum theory and statistical mechanics

• "The most incomprehensible thing about our universe is that it can be comprehended."

• "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

• "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

• "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."

Robert Goddard

The pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry

• "It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."

Enrico Fermi

Developed quantum theory and the first nuclear reactor.

• "There are two possible outcomes: If the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery."

James Prescott Joule

Discovered the first law of thermodynamics, conservation of energy.  He also discovered the relationship of heat to mechanical work

• "It is evident that an acquaintance with natural laws means no less than 
an acquaintance with the mind of God therein expressed."

Galielo Galilei

Father of modern astronomy and physics

• "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."