Any man whose errors take ten years to correct is quite a man.
J. Robert OppenheimerRead
There must be no barriers for freedom of inquiry... There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of freedom in scientific inquiry and the necessity for questioning established beliefs.
J. Robert Oppenheimer's quote highlights the fundamental role of freedom in science, advocating that scientists should not face restrictions or dogmas that impede their quest for knowledge. It suggests that the essence of scientific advancement lies in the ability to pose questions freely, express doubts, and correct misconceptions, which are integral to the pursuit of truth and understanding in the scientific realm.
Themes
FreedomScienceInquiryDogmaQuestioning
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be utilized during a science seminar to encourage open discussions.
More from J. Robert Oppenheimer
All quotes →Bertrand 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
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