Where is everybody? Humans could theoretically colonize the galaxy in a million years or so, and if they could, astronauts from older civilizations could do the same. So why haven't they come to Earth?
Enrico FermiRead
I remember my friend Johnny von Neumann used to say, 'with four parameters I can fit an elephant and with five I can make him wiggle his trunk.'
Interpretation
The quote humorously highlights the flexibility and limitations of models in science and data fitting.
Enrico Fermi's quote serves as a witty reminder of the power and absurdity of mathematical models in science. It suggests that while one can create complex models to fit data, these models can also become overly complicated or disconnected from reality when adorned with excessive parameters. The essence is that fitting a model should maintain a balance between accuracy and simplicity to retain its usefulness.
In practice
In a lecture about statistical analysis, to illustrate the importance of model simplicity.
Where is everybody? Humans could theoretically colonize the galaxy in a million years or so, and if they could, astronauts from older civilizations could do the same. So why haven't they come to Earth?
The fact that no limits exist to the destructiveness of this weapon [the 'Super', i.e. the hydrogen bomb] makes its very existence and the knowledge of its construction a danger to humanity as a whole. It is necessarily an evil thing considered in any light. For these reasons, we believe it important for the President of the United States to tell the American public and the world what we think is wrong on fundamental ethical principles to initiate the development of such a weapon.
Never underestimate the joy people derive from hearing something they already know.
Experimental confirmation of a prediction is merely a measurement. An experiment disproving a prediction is a discovery.
Whatever Nature has in store for mankind, unpleasant as it may be, men must accept, for ignorance is never better than knowledge.
One might be led to question whether the scientists acted wisely in presenting the statesmen of the world with this appalling problem. Actually there was no choice. Once basic knowledge is acquired, any attempt at preventing its fruition would be as futile as hoping to stop the earth from revolving around the sun.
No particular theory may ever be regarded as absolutely certain.... No scientific theory is sacrosanct.
The scientist finds his reward in what Henri Poincare calls the joy of comprehension, and not in the possibility of application to which any discovery may lead.
Science is the tool of the Western mind and with it more doors can be opened than with bare hands.
If someone says that he can think or talk about quantum physics without becoming dizzy, that shows only that he has not understood anything whatever about it.
Yes. I'm a doctor, an epidemiologist, and lots of my professional colleagues flip back and forth between industry and medical roles. I know them; they are not bad people. But it is possible for good people in bad systems to do things that inflict enormous harm.
What we want is scientists who don't become part of the policy discussion: All they do is produce science. If someone becomes an advocate, then I won't pay as much attention to their science.
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