Trying to capture the physicists' precise mathematical description of the quantum world with our crude words and mental images is like playing Chopin with a boxing glove on one hand and a catcher's mitt on the other.
Interpretation
Using simple language to describe complex scientific concepts can be difficult and imprecise.
George Johnson uses an analogy to depict the challenge of articulating the complexities of quantum physics through ordinary language. Just like playing a nuanced piece of music with cumbersome equipment hampers performance, translating intricate scientific principles into everyday words and imagery often leads to misunderstandings and oversimplifications.
In practice
In a lecture on quantum mechanics, a professor might use this quote to emphasize the challenges of explaining advanced concepts.
Whenever you read a book or have a conversation, the experience causes physical changes in your brain. It's a little frightening to think that every time you walk away from an encounter, your brain has been altered, sometimes permanently.
Any scientist who can't explain to an eight-year-old what he is doing is a charlatan.
During my medical education at the University of Basle I found vivisection horrible, barbarous and above all unnecessary
Weapons of mass destruction violate more than individual lives - they cross international borders and jeopardize all people. They also drain resources that could be used instead for medicines, schools and other life-saving supplies. We must come together with even greater determination to prevent a WMD nightmare.
Imagination is the Discovering Faculty, pre-eminently. It is that which penetrates into the unseen worlds around us, the worlds of Science.
The history of acceptance of new theories frequently shows the following steps: At first the new idea is treated as pure nonsense, not worth looking at. Then comes a time when a multitude of contradictory objections are raised, such as: the new theory is too fancy, or merely a new terminology; it is not fruitful, or simply wrong. Finally a state is reached when everyone seems to claim that he had always followed this theory. This usually marks the last state before general acceptance.
Whether you can go back in time is held in the grip of the law of quantum gravity.
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