Although 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.
Interpretation
This quote highlights how relativity, while complex, adheres to scientific principles, especially regarding observation and causality.
Werner Heisenberg emphasizes that despite the abstract nature of the theory of relativity, it aligns with traditional scientific methods. It separates the observer from the observed, allowing for a structured understanding of causality in the universe. This reflects the dual nature of scientific inquiry that balances complexity with clarity.
In practice
In a lecture on the principles of physics, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of viewing the universe through both abstract and concrete lenses.
It was about three o'clock at night when the final result of the calculation [which gave birth to quantum mechanics] lay before me ... At first I was deeply shaken ... I was so excited that I could not think of sleep. So I left the house ... and awaited the sunrise on top of a rock.
It is generally believed that our science is empirical and that we draw our concepts and our mathematical constructs from the empirical data. If this were the whole truth, we should, when entering into a new field, introduce only such quantities as can directly be observed, and formulate natural laws only by means of these quantities.
When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity ? And why turbulence ? I really believe he will have an answer for the first.
The 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.
The Same organizing forces that have shaped nature in all her forms are also responsible for the structure of our minds.
There 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.
Half of what we know is wrong, the purpose of science is to determine which half.
A very great deal more truth can become known than can be proven.
Human exploration is something that's been going on for thousands of years, and the models that worked 500 years ago are likely to work again today.
Many people tried to find the therapy for cancer, but all failed. And myself, I never expected my research, working on the immune system, would lead to the cancer therapy.
There is no science in this world like physics. Nothing comes close to the precision with which physics enables you to understand the world around you. It's the laws of physics that allow us to say exactly what time the sun is going to rise. What time the eclipse is going to begin. What time the eclipse is going to end.
The typical imperative from biology is not "Thou shalt... ," but "If ... then ... else.
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