I'm in Pittsburgh. Why am I here? by Harold Urey

I'm in Pittsburgh. Why am I here?

Harold Urey

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Categorized in : Funny Humor Humorous

All of us who study the origin of life find that the more we look into it, the more we feel it is too complex to have evolved anywhere. We all believe as an article of faith that life evolved from dead matter on this planet. It is just that life's complexity is so great, it is hard for us to imagine that it did.

origin-of-life believe looks

Life is not a miracle. It is a natural phenomenon, and can be expected to appear whenever there is a planet whose conditions duplicate those of the earth.

miracle earth science

[My study of the universe] leaves little doubt that life has occurred on other planets. I doubt if the human race is the most intelligent form of life.

intelligent race doubt

I looked for it [heavy hydrogen, deuterium] because I thought it should exist. I didn't know it would have industrial applications or be the basic for the most powerful weapon ever known [the nuclear bomb] ... I thought maybe my discovery might have the practical value of, say, neon in neon signs.

powerful discovery science

Above all, I regret that scientific experiments-some of them mine-should have produced such a terrible weapon as the hydrogen bomb. Regret, with all my soul, but not guilt.

regret should-have science

[Pure research] is worth every penny it costs. by Harold Urey

[Pure research] is worth every penny it costs.

cost research science

Athens built the Acropolis. Corinth was a commercial city, interested in purely materialistic things. Today we admire Athens, visit it, preserve the old temples, yet we hardly ever set foot in Corinth.

cities feet history

The space program is not only scientific in purpose but also is an expression of man's insistent determination to do the nearly impossible - to explore the unknown, even at great risk.

great man space determination

In general, exchange reactions for the lighter isotopes have equilibrium constants sufficiently different from unity, so that the ratios of concentrations of the isotopes in two compounds which are in equilibrium differ by a few per cents in nearly all cases.

lighter unity different two

The discovery of deuterium and the marked differences in the physical and chemical properties of hydrogen and deuterium, together with an efficient method for the separation of these isotopes, have opened an interesting field of research in several of the major branches of science.

differences research together science

Nature can always be more complicated than we imagine. by Harold Urey

Nature can always be more complicated than we imagine.

more always nature complicated