Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
'It worked.' (said after witnessing the first atomic detonation).
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote signifies a moment of realization and acknowledgment of the power and implications of human innovation.
J. Robert Oppenheimer's quote 'It worked' reflects the monumental achievement of the successful detonation of the atomic bomb, marking a pivotal moment in scientific advancement and warfare. It encapsulates the duality of scientific progress, highlighting both its potential for innovation and its capacity for destruction, evoking a complex mix of triumph and foreboding in the wake of such a powerful technological breakthrough.
Themes
Atomic BombDetonationScienceInnovationAchievement
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on nuclear physics, the professor referenced Oppenheimer's quote to discuss the moral implications of scientific advancements.
More from J. Robert Oppenheimer
All quotes βBertrand Russell had given a talk on the then new quantum mechanics, of whose wonders he was most appreciative. He spoke hard and earnestly in the New Lecture Hall. And when he was done, Professor Whitehead, who presided, thanked him for his efforts, and not least for 'leaving the vast darkness of the subject unobscured'.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
There are children playing in the streets who could solve some of my top problems in physics, because they have modes of sensory perception that I lost long ago.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
It is perfectly obvious that the whole world is going to hell. The only possible chance that it might not is that we do not attempt to prevent it from doing so.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. (quoting the Bhagavad-Gita after witnessing the first Nuclear explosion.)
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
[About the great synthesis of atomic physics in the 1920s:] It was a heroic time. It was not the doing of any one man; it involved the collaboration of scores of scientists from many different lands. But from the first to last the deeply creative, subtle and critical spirit of Niels Bohr guided, restrained, deepened and finally transmuted the enterprise.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
Similar quotes
There's a misconception that survival of the fittest means survival of the most aggressive. The adjective 'Darwinian' used to refer to ruthless competition; you used to read that in business journals. But that's not what Darwinian means to a biologist; it's whatever leads to reproductive success.
Steven PinkerRead
When I had satisfied myself that no star of that kind had ever shone before, I was led into such perplexity by the unbelievability of the thing that I began to doubt the faith of my own eyes.
Tycho BraheRead
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms.
Stephen Jay GouldRead
What really matters for me is ... the more active role of the observer in quantum physics ... According to quantum physics the observer has indeed a new relation to the physical events around him in comparison with the classical observer, who is merely a spectator.
Wolfgang PauliRead
All sorts of computer errors are now turning up. You'd be surprised to know the number of doctors who claim they are treating pregnant men.
Isaac AsimovRead
Everybody who's a physician, who makes vaccines, who wants to find the cure for cancer. Everybody who wants to do any medical good for humankind got the passion for that before he or she was 10.
Bill NyeRead