If anybody says he can think about quantum physics without getting giddy, that only shows he has not understood the first thing about them.
Interpretation
Understanding quantum physics is so complex that it can overwhelm those who truly grasp its principles.
Niels Bohr emphasizes that the profound and often counterintuitive nature of quantum physics is such that a true understanding leads to a sense of wonder or even confusion. If one feels unfazed by the complexities of quantum mechanics, it likely indicates that they have not fully grasped its intricacies and the philosophical implications it carries.
In practice
During a lecture on advanced physics, a professor might quote Bohr to illustrate the challenging nature of quantum mechanics.
When asked ... [about] an underlying quantum world, Bohr would answer, 'There is no quantum world. There is only an abstract quantum physical description. It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how nature is. Physics concerns what we can say about Nature.'
An independant reality in the ordinary physical sense can neither be ascribed to the phenomenon nor to the agencies of observation.
An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.
Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.
When searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both actors and spectators.
And anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn't yet understood the first thing about it.
Mathematics compares the most diverse phenomena and discovers the secret analogies that unite them.
It's hard to imagine anything more interesting than learning how we're woven into the enormous tapestry of existence. Where did our universe come from? How special is our world, and how special are we? We allocate tens of billions of dollars annually to NASA, NSF and academia in search of the answers.
In 1903, I finished my doctor's thesis and obtained the degree. At the end of the same year, the Nobel prize was awarded jointly to Becquerel, my husband and me for the discovery of radioactivity and new radioactive elements.
With any hallucinations, if you can do functional brain imagery while they're going on, you will find that the parts of the brain usually involved in seeing or hearing - in perception - have become super active by themselves. And this is an autonomous activity; this does not happen with imagination.
Our circadian biology, and the insatiable early-morning demands of a post-industrial way of life, denies us the sleep we vitally need.
Science is the topography of ignorance.
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