Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it - in a decade, a century, or a millennium - we will all say to each other, how could it have been otherwise? How could we have been so stupid?
John Archibald WheelerRead
In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it.
Interpretation
Explore the unusual aspects of your field to discover unique insights.
John Archibald Wheeler's quote encourages curiosity and exploration in any discipline. By focusing on the strangest or most peculiar elements within a field, one can uncover new perspectives and innovations that contribute to the advancement of understanding and knowledge.
In practice
During a science fair, you could use this quote to inspire students to look beyond conventional experiments.
Behind it all is surely an idea so simple, so beautiful, that when we grasp it - in a decade, a century, or a millennium - we will all say to each other, how could it have been otherwise? How could we have been so stupid?
No phenomenon is a real phenomenon until it is an observed phenomenon.
In order to more fully understand this reality, we must take into account other dimensions of a broader reality.
We will first understand how simple the universe is when we recognize how strange it is.
The laws of physics that we regard_x000D_ as 'sacred,' as immutable, are anything_x000D_ but.
The universe gives birth to consciousness, and consciousness gives meaning to the universe.
One can say, looking at the papers in this symposium, that the elucidation of the genetic code is indeed a great achievement. It is, in a sense, the key to molecular biology because it shows how the great polymer languages, the nucleic acid language and the protein language, are linked together.
The challenge of global warming should stimulate a whole raft of manifestly benign innovations - for conserving energy and generating it by 'clean' means (biofuels, innovative renewables, carbon sequestration, and nuclear fusion).
I'm substantially concerned about the policy directions of the space agency. We have a situation in the U.S. where the White House and Congress are at odds over what the future direction should be. They're sort of playing a game and NASA is the shuttlecock that they're hitting back and forth.
There can sometimes be this fear among laypeople: 'I don't understand everything in science perfectly, so I just can't say anything about it.' I think it's good to know that we scientists are also confused some of the time.
That is the way of the scientist. He will spend thirty years in building up a mountain range of facts with the intent to prove a certain theory; then he is so happy with his achievement that as a rule he overlooks the main chief fact of all-that all his accumulation proves an entirely different thing.
All of a sudden, space isn't friendly. All of a sudden, it's a place where people can die. . . . Many more people are going to die. But we can't explore space if the requirement is that there be no casualties; we can't do anything if the requirement is that there be no casualties.
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