The problems of language here are really serious. We wish to speak in some way about the structure of the atoms. But we cannot speak about atoms in ordinary language.
WERNER HEISENBERGThe problems of language here are really serious. We wish to speak in some way about the structure of the atoms. But we cannot speak about atoms in ordinary language.
WERNER HEISENBERGAlthough the theory of relativity makes the greatest of demands on the ability for abstract thought, still it fulfills the traditional requirements of science insofar as it permits a division of the world into subject and object (observer and observed) and, hence, a clear formulation of the law of causality.
WERNER HEISENBERGThe single life is bearable to me only through my work in science, but for the long term, it would be very bad if I had to make do without a very young person next to me.
WERNER HEISENBERGIn America, it was decided to attempt the production of atomic bombs with an effort that would constitute a large part of the collective American war effort.
WERNER HEISENBERGThe uncertainty relation does not refer to the past; if the velocity of the electron is at first known and the position then exactly measured, the position for times previous to the measurement may be calculated.
WERNER HEISENBERGIn 1924, I became a Dozent in Gottingen and worked out the quantum mechanics during a holiday stay on Heligoland.
WERNER HEISENBERGI would like to mention astrophysics; in this field, the strange properties of the pulsars and quasars, and perhaps also the gravitational waves, can be considered as a challenge.
WERNER HEISENBERGThe end of the First World War had thrown Germany’s youth into great turmoil. The reins of power had fallen from the hands of a deeply disillusioned older generation, and the younger ones drew together in larger and smaller groups to blaze new paths or, at least, to discover a new star to steer by.
WERNER HEISENBERGEvery word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability.
WERNER HEISENBERGBohr’s influence on the physics and the physicists of our century was stronger than that of anyone else, even than that of Albert Einstein.
WERNER HEISENBERGWhat we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.
WERNER HEISENBERGCertainly, in the course of time, the splendid things will separate from the hateful.
WERNER HEISENBERGThere is a great difference between discoveries and inventions. With discoveries, one can always be skeptical, and many surprises can take place. In the case of inventions, surprises can really only occur for people who have not had anything to do with it.
WERNER HEISENBERGI believe this uranium business will give the Anglo-Saxons such tremendous power that Europe will become a bloc under Anglo-Saxon domination. If that is the case, it will be a very good thing. I wonder whether Stalin will be able to stand up to the others as he has done in the past.
WERNER HEISENBERGSometimes a poor performance is better for enjoyment, because you can look at those things that were wrong and analyze them.
WERNER HEISENBERGThe solution of the difficulty is that the two mental pictures which experiment lead us to form – the one of the particles, the other of the waves – are both incomplete and have only the validity of analogies which are accurate only in limiting cases.
WERNER HEISENBERG