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Werner Heisenberg Quotes

Physicist

German theoretical physicist and one of the founders of quantum mechanics, known for his formulation of the uncertainty principle. He made significant contributions to the field of physics, particularly in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics.

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Famous Werner Heisenberg Quotes

“I remember discussions with Bohr which went through many hours till very late at night and ended almost in despair; and when at the end of the discussion I went alone for a walk in the neighbouring park I repeated to myself again and again the question: Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments?”

Science Nature Despair Physics Experiments Absurd Quantum Mechanics Bohr Niels Bohr

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“The discontinuous 'reduction of the wave packets' which cannot be derived from Schroedinger's equation is ... a consequence of the transition from the possible to the actual.”

Science Consequence Wave Transition Mechanic Equations Reduction Quantum Mechanics

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“Can quantum mechanics represent the fact that an electron finds itself approximately in a given place and that it moves approximately with a given velocity, and can we make these approximations so close that they do not cause experimental difficulties?”

Facts Moving Given Causes Difficulty Physics Quantum Mechanic Quantum Physics Quantum Mechanics Electrons Velocity Approximation

Book:Gesammelte Werke

Source: Gesammelte Werke

“The basic idea is to shove all fundamental difficulties onto the neutron and to do quantum mechanics in the nucleus.”

Ideas Difficulty Fundamentals Physics Quantum Mechanic Quantum Physics Quantum Mechanics Nucleus Neutrons

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.”

Science Perception Method Exposed Questioning Quantum Physics Quantum Mechanics Right Questions Experimental Science

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“[T]he atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.”

World Real Facts Form Possibility Physics Atoms Particles Quantum Physics Quantum Mechanics

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“Nature allows only experimental situations to occur which can be described within the framework of the formalism of quantum mechanics”

Science Situation Quantum Mechanic Framework Quantum Mechanics

Book:Gesammelte Werke

Source: Gesammelte Werke

“It seems sensible to discard all hope of observing hitherto unobservable quantities, such as the position and period of the electron... Instead it seems more reasonable to try to establish a theoretical quantum mechanics, analogous to classical mechanics, but in which only relations between observable quantities occur.”

Trying Seems Science Position Theory Periods Relation Observation Reasonable Sensible Quantity Quantum Mechanic Observing Theoretical Quantum Mechanics Electrons

Author:Werner Heisenberg

“It was about three o'clock at night when the final result of the calculation [which gave birth to quantum mechanics] lay before me ... At first I was deeply shaken ... I was so excited that I could not think of sleep. So I left the house ... and awaited the sunrise on top of a rock.”

Thinking Firsts Science Night Three House Left Sleep Results Rocks Birth Lays Finals Excited Clock Excitement Quantum Sunrise Mechanic Calculations Quantum Mechanics

Author:Werner Heisenberg

About the Author

Born: December 5, 1901
Died: February 1, 1976
Known for: Physicist
Quotes: 79

Books & Sources

Physics and philosophy: the revolution in modern scienceRelated source material

Physics and Beyond: Encounters and ConversationsRelated source material

Across the frontiersRelated source material

Gesammelte WerkeRelated source material

The Physical Principles of the Quantum TheoryRelated source material

Natural law and the structure of matterRelated source material

Philosophical problems of quantum physicsRelated source material

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