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John N. Bahcall (30 Dec 1934 - 17 Aug 2005) American astrophysicist who pioneered the development of neutrino astrophysics in the early 1960s. He theorized that neutrinos (subatomic particles that have no charge and exceedingly weak interaction with matter) can be used to understanding how stars shine. Short biography of John N. Bahcall >>

John N. Bahcall
“The most important discoveries”

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“The most important discoveries will provide answers to questions that we do not yet know how to ask and will concern objects we have not yet imagined.”

— John N. Bahcall

At Congressional committee hearing on Hubble Space Telescope (1990).

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On 13 Jul 1990, John Bahcall presented a statement to the Subcommittee on Space Science and Applications of the U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. His subject was “Science with the Hubble Space Telescope.” The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) had just been launched, and to everyone’s dismay, a serious flaw in the mirror design was preventing it from taking clear images. He addressed the committee as President of the American Astronomical Society, and as a member of the scientific working group of the HST since its inception in 1973. He gave his assurance that the problems could be repaired, and he enumerated the great advantages the HST would still give over ground-based telescopes. After he had given examples of known questions to be investigated, he broadened the exciting opportunities the HST should yield, saying:

“As marvelous and as difficult an achievement as the fulfillment of this promise will be, I personally will be disappointed if this is all that HST does. I believe that the most important discoveries will provide answers to questions that we do not yet know how to ask and will concern objects that we can not yet imagine.

In my personal view, a failure to discover unimagined objects and answer unasked questions, once HST functions properly, would indicate a lack of imagination in stocking the Universe on the part of the Deity.”

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Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: 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) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)

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