TODAY IN SCIENCE HISTORY ®  •  TODAYINSCI ®
Celebrating 24 Years on the Web
Find science on or your birthday

Today in Science History - Quickie Quiz
Who said: “A people without children would face a hopeless future; a country without trees is almost as helpless.”
more quiz questions >>
Home > Category Index for Science Quotations > Category Index S > Category: Subatomic

Subatomic Quotes (10 quotes)

Dass die bis jetzt unzerlegten chemischen Elemente absolut unzerlegbare Stoffe seien, ist gegenwärtig mindestens sehr unwahrscheinlich. Vielmehr scheint es, dass die Atome der Elemente nicht die letzten, sondern nur die näheren Bestandtheile der Molekeln sowohl der Elemente wie der Verbindungen bilden, die Molekeln oder Molecule als Massentheile erster, die Atome als solche zweiter Ordnung anzusehen sind, die ihrerseits wiederum aus Massentheilchen einer dritten höheren Ordnung bestehen werden.
That the as yet undivided chemical elements are absolutely irreducible substances, is currently at least very unlikely. Rather it seems, that the atoms of elements are not the final, but only the immediate constituents of the molecules of both the elements and the compounds—the Molekeln or molecule as foremost division of matter, the atoms being considered as second order, in turn consisting of matter particles of a third higher order.
[Speculating in 1870, on the existence of subatomic particles, in opening remark of the paper by which he became established as co-discoverer of the Periodic Law.]
'Die Natur der chemischen Elemente als Function ihrer Atomgewichte' ('The Nature of the Chemical Elements as a Function of their Atomic Weight'), Annalen der Chemie (1870), supp. b, 354. Original German paper reprinted in Lothar Meyer and Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev, Das natürliche System der chemischen Elemente: Abhandlungen (1895), 9. Translation by Webmaster, with punctuation faithful to the original, except a comma was changed to a dash to improve readability.
Science quotes on:  |  Absolute (153)  |  Atom (381)  |  Being (1276)  |  Both (496)  |  Chemical (303)  |  Compound (117)  |  Consider (428)  |  Consisting (5)  |  Constituent (47)  |  Discoverer (43)  |  Division (67)  |  Element (322)  |  Existence (481)  |  Final (121)  |  Immediate (98)  |  Irreducible (7)  |  Law (913)  |  Matter (821)  |  Molecule (185)  |  Order (638)  |  Paper (192)  |  Particle (200)  |  Periodic Law (6)  |  Substance (253)  |  Turn (454)  |  Undivided (3)  |  Unlikely (15)

A careful analysis of the process of observation in atomic physics has shown that the subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.
The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics (1975), 68.
Science quotes on:  |  Analysis (244)  |  Atomic Physics (7)  |  Care (203)  |  Entity (37)  |  Experiment (736)  |  Interconnection (12)  |  Isolation (32)  |  Meaning (244)  |  Measurement (178)  |  Observation (593)  |  Particle (200)  |  Physic (515)  |  Physics (564)  |  Preparation (60)  |  Process (439)  |  Subsequent (34)  |  Understanding (527)  |  Understood (155)

A star is drawing on some vast reservoir of energy by means unknown to us. This reservoir can scarcely be other than the subatomic energy which, it is known exists abundantly in all matter; we sometimes dream that man will one day learn how to release it and use it for his service. The store is well nigh inexhaustible, if only it could be tapped. There is sufficient in the Sun to maintain its output of heat for 15 billion years.
Address to the British Association in Cardiff, (24 Aug 1920), in Observatory (1920), 43 353. Reprinted in Foreward to Arthur S. Eddington, The Internal Constitution of the Stars (1926, 1988), x.
Science quotes on:  |  Atom (381)  |  Atomic Power (9)  |  Billion (104)  |  Drawing (56)  |  Dream (222)  |  Energy (373)  |  Exist (458)  |  Existence (481)  |  Heat (180)  |  Inexhaustible (26)  |  Known (453)  |  Learn (672)  |  Learning (291)  |  Maintain (105)  |  Man (2252)  |  Matter (821)  |  Mean (810)  |  Means (587)  |  Other (2233)  |  Output (12)  |  Release (31)  |  Reservoir (9)  |  Scarcely (75)  |  Service (110)  |  Star (460)  |  Store (49)  |  Sufficiency (16)  |  Sufficient (133)  |  Sun (407)  |  Tap (10)  |  Unknown (195)  |  Use (771)  |  Vast (188)  |  Will (2350)  |  Year (963)

At least once per year, some group of scientists will become very excited and announce that:
•The universe is even bigger than they thought!
•There are even more subatomic particles than they thought!
•Whatever they announced last year about global warming is wrong.
From newspaper column '25 Things I Have Learned in 50 Years' (Oct 1998), collected in Dave Barry Turns Fifty (2010), 183.
Science quotes on:  |  Announce (13)  |  Announcement (15)  |  Become (821)  |  Climate Change (76)  |  Excitement (61)  |  Global (39)  |  Global Warming (29)  |  Last (425)  |  More (2558)  |  Particle (200)  |  Scientist (881)  |  Thought (995)  |  Universe (900)  |  Warming (24)  |  Whatever (234)  |  Will (2350)  |  Wrong (246)  |  Year (963)

For five hundred dollars, I’ll name a subatomic particle after you. Some of my satisfied customers include Arthur C. Quark and George Meson.
Spoken by the character Dogbert in Dilbert comic strip (26 Jul 2003).
Science quotes on:  |  Customer (8)  |  Dollar (22)  |  Hundred (240)  |  Include (93)  |  Meson (3)  |  Name (359)  |  Particle (200)  |  Quark (9)  |  Satisfaction (76)

I found out that the main ability to have was a visual, and also an almost tactile, way to imagine the physical situations, rather than a merely logical picture of the problems. … Very soon I discovered that if one gets a feeling for no more than a dozen … radiation and nuclear constants, one can imagine the subatomic world almost tangibly, and manipulate the picture dimensionally and qualitatively, before calculating more precise relationships.
In Adventures of a Mathematician (1976), 147.
Science quotes on:  |  Ability (162)  |  Calculate (58)  |  Constant (148)  |  Dimension (64)  |  Discover (571)  |  Dozen (10)  |  Feeling (259)  |  Imagine (176)  |  Logical (57)  |  Manipulate (11)  |  Merely (315)  |  More (2558)  |  Nuclear (110)  |  Physical (518)  |  Picture (148)  |  Precise (71)  |  Problem (731)  |  Qualitative (15)  |  Radiation (48)  |  Relationship (114)  |  Situation (117)  |  Soon (187)  |  Tangible (15)  |  Visual (16)  |  Way (1214)  |  World (1850)

Its [science’s] goal is to find out how the world works, to seek what regularities there may be, to penetrate to the connections of things—from subatomic particles, which may be the constituents of all matter, to living organisms, the human social community, and thence to the cosmos as a whole.
Broca’s Brain: Reflections on the Romance of Science (1979, 1986), 15.
Science quotes on:  |  Community (111)  |  Connection (171)  |  Constituent (47)  |  Cosmos (64)  |  Find (1014)  |  Goal (155)  |  Human (1512)  |  Living (492)  |  Matter (821)  |  Organism (231)  |  Particle (200)  |  Penetrate (68)  |  Seek (218)  |  Social (261)  |  Thing (1914)  |  Whole (756)  |  Work (1402)  |  World (1850)

Personally I think there is no doubt that sub-atomic energy is available all around us, and that one day man will release and control its almost infinite power. We cannot prevent him from doing so and can only hope that he will not use it exclusively in blowing up his next door neighbour. (1936)
Concluding remark in Lecture (1936) on 'Forty Years of Atomic Theory', collected in Needham and Pagel (eds.) in Background to Modern Science: Ten Lectures at Cambridge Arranged by the History of Science Committee, (1938), 114.
Science quotes on:  |  Around (7)  |  Atomic Bomb (115)  |  Atomic Energy (25)  |  Available (80)  |  Blowing (22)  |  Control (182)  |  Doing (277)  |  Door (94)  |  Doubt (314)  |  Energy (373)  |  Exclusively (10)  |  Hope (321)  |  Infinite (243)  |  Man (2252)  |  Neighbour (7)  |  Next (238)  |  Power (771)  |  Prevent (98)  |  Release (31)  |  Think (1122)  |  Use (771)  |  Will (2350)

Subatomic particles do not exist but rather show “tendencies to exist”, and atomic events do not occur with certainty at definite times and in definite ways, but rather show “tendencies to occur”.
In The Tao of Physics (1975), 133.
Science quotes on:  |  Atom (381)  |  Certainty (180)  |  Definite (114)  |  Do (1905)  |  Event (222)  |  Exist (458)  |  Existence (481)  |  Occur (151)  |  Occurrence (53)  |  Particle (200)  |  Show (353)  |  Tendency (110)  |  Time (1911)  |  Way (1214)

Subatomic particles have no meaning as isolated entities, but can only be understood as interconnections between the preparation of an experiment and the subsequent measurement.
In The Tao of Physics (1975), 68.
Science quotes on:  |  Entity (37)  |  Experiment (736)  |  Interconnection (12)  |  Isolation (32)  |  Meaning (244)  |  Measurement (178)  |  Particle (200)  |  Preparation (60)  |  Subsequent (34)  |  Understanding (527)  |  Understood (155)


Carl Sagan Thumbnail In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) -- Carl Sagan
Quotations by:Albert EinsteinIsaac NewtonLord KelvinCharles DarwinSrinivasa RamanujanCarl SaganFlorence NightingaleThomas EdisonAristotleMarie CurieBenjamin FranklinWinston ChurchillGalileo GalileiSigmund FreudRobert BunsenLouis PasteurTheodore RooseveltAbraham LincolnRonald ReaganLeonardo DaVinciMichio KakuKarl PopperJohann GoetheRobert OppenheimerCharles Kettering  ... (more people)

Quotations about:Atomic  BombBiologyChemistryDeforestationEngineeringAnatomyAstronomyBacteriaBiochemistryBotanyConservationDinosaurEnvironmentFractalGeneticsGeologyHistory of ScienceInventionJupiterKnowledgeLoveMathematicsMeasurementMedicineNatural ResourceOrganic ChemistryPhysicsPhysicianQuantum TheoryResearchScience and ArtTeacherTechnologyUniverseVolcanoVirusWind PowerWomen ScientistsX-RaysYouthZoology  ... (more topics)
Sitewide search within all Today In Science History pages:
Visit our Science and Scientist Quotations index for more Science Quotes from archaeologists, biologists, chemists, geologists, inventors and inventions, mathematicians, physicists, pioneers in medicine, science events and technology.

Names index: | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Categories index: | 1 | 2 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Thank you for sharing.
- 100 -
Sophie Germain
Gertrude Elion
Ernest Rutherford
James Chadwick
Marcel Proust
William Harvey
Johann Goethe
John Keynes
Carl Gauss
Paul Feyerabend
- 90 -
Antoine Lavoisier
Lise Meitner
Charles Babbage
Ibn Khaldun
Euclid
Ralph Emerson
Robert Bunsen
Frederick Banting
Andre Ampere
Winston Churchill
- 80 -
John Locke
Bronislaw Malinowski
Bible
Thomas Huxley
Alessandro Volta
Erwin Schrodinger
Wilhelm Roentgen
Louis Pasteur
Bertrand Russell
Jean Lamarck
- 70 -
Samuel Morse
John Wheeler
Nicolaus Copernicus
Robert Fulton
Pierre Laplace
Humphry Davy
Thomas Edison
Lord Kelvin
Theodore Roosevelt
Carolus Linnaeus
- 60 -
Francis Galton
Linus Pauling
Immanuel Kant
Martin Fischer
Robert Boyle
Karl Popper
Paul Dirac
Avicenna
James Watson
William Shakespeare
- 50 -
Stephen Hawking
Niels Bohr
Nikola Tesla
Rachel Carson
Max Planck
Henry Adams
Richard Dawkins
Werner Heisenberg
Alfred Wegener
John Dalton
- 40 -
Pierre Fermat
Edward Wilson
Johannes Kepler
Gustave Eiffel
Giordano Bruno
JJ Thomson
Thomas Kuhn
Leonardo DaVinci
Archimedes
David Hume
- 30 -
Andreas Vesalius
Rudolf Virchow
Richard Feynman
James Hutton
Alexander Fleming
Emile Durkheim
Benjamin Franklin
Robert Oppenheimer
Robert Hooke
Charles Kettering
- 20 -
Carl Sagan
James Maxwell
Marie Curie
Rene Descartes
Francis Crick
Hippocrates
Michael Faraday
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Francis Bacon
Galileo Galilei
- 10 -
Aristotle
John Watson
Rosalind Franklin
Michio Kaku
Isaac Asimov
Charles Darwin
Sigmund Freud
Albert Einstein
Florence Nightingale
Isaac Newton


by Ian Ellis
who invites your feedback
Thank you for sharing.
Today in Science History
Sign up for Newsletter
with quiz, quotes and more.