“The relationship between science and the humanities is two-way. Science changes our view of the world and our place in it. In the other direction, the humanities provide the store of ideas and images and language available to us in understanding the world. The exploding star of A.D. 1054, the Crab Nebula, was sighted and documented by the Chinese, but nowhere mentioned in the West, where the Aristotelian notion of the immortality of stars still held sway. We often do not see what we do not expect to see.” WorldWayStillsTwoIdeasHumanityLanguageStarsUnderstandingViewsWestNotionAvailableStoresChineseImmortalityTwo WaysExplodingCrabsUnderstanding The WorldNebula Book:Great Ideas in Physics Source: Great Ideas in Physics
“I am spellbound by the plays of Shakespeare. And I am spellbound by the second law of thermodynamics. The great ideas in science, like the Cro-Magnon paintings and the plays of Shakespeare, are part of our cultural heritage.” IdeasPlayLawPaintingHeritageGreat IdeaCultural HeritageThermodynamics Book:Great Ideas in Physics Source: Great Ideas in Physics
“Another strand of my writing is the importance of the idea. If you think about fiction writing as a spectrum, where at one end of the spectrum in the infrared, are the story tellers, and the people for whom creation of wonderful characters and telling a good story is the most important thing.” PeopleIfsThinkingWritingImportantIdeasEndsCharacterStoriesFictionWonderfulCreationImportanceImportant ThingsSpectrumGood StoryFiction WritingStrandsInfrared Author:Alan Lightman
“I have a number of vague ideas where I just have the core or kernel of the idea. I feel like I need some time for my mind to fill up again. I feel empty. Right now.” NeedsFeelsMindIdeasNumbersRight NowEmptyCoreVagueKernelVague Ideas Author:Alan Lightman
“I'm humbled and enormously grateful to be connected to [Franz] Kafka in a any way. He is one of the writers I admire. I think he has been a big influence on me. I appreciate the idea of the individual person battling the society - which is true in all his books.” ThinkingWayPersonsHas BeensBookIdeasBigsIndividualInfluenceAppreciateGratefulConnectedAdmire Author:Alan Lightman
“Franz Kafka is an idea person. His books begin and end in ideas. Ideas have always been important to me in my writing. To the point that I have to be careful that they don't take over.” WritingPersonsImportantBookIdeasEndsCarefulBe Careful Author:Alan Lightman
“In fiction writing ideas have to be handled extremely carefully. You can't let your characters just be mouthpieces for your ideas. They have to live and breathe on their own.” WritingIdeasCharacterFictionBreatheFiction WritingMouthpiece Author:Alan Lightman
