A physicist friend of mine once said that in facing death, he drew some consolation from the reflection that he would never again have to look up the word "hermeneutics" in the dictionary. Steven Weinberg More Quotes by Steven Weinberg More Quotes From Steven Weinberg It seems that scientists are often attracted to beautiful theories in the way that insects are attracted to flowers — not by logical deduction, but by something like a sense of smell. Steven Weinberg smell flower beautiful My advice is to go for the messes - that's where the action is. Steven Weinberg mess action advice The more we refine our understanding of God to make the concept plausible, the more it seems pointless. Steven Weinberg plausible understanding seems I enjoy being at a meeting that doesn't start with an invocation! Steven Weinberg invocation atheism enjoy How strange it would be if the final theory were to be discovered in our lifetimes! The discovery of the final laws of nature will mark a discontinuity in human intellectual history, the sharpest that has occurred since the beginning of modern science in the seventeenth century. Can we now imagine what that would be like? Steven Weinberg law discovery science Alas, Islam turned against science in the twelfth century. The most influential figure was the philosopher Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali, who argued in The Incoherence of the Philosophers against the very idea of laws of nature, on the ground that any such laws would put God's hands in chains. According to al-Ghazzali, a piece of cotton placed in a flame does not darken and smoulder because of the heat, but because God wants it to darken and smoulder. After al-Ghazzali, there was no more science worth mentioning in Islamic countries. Steven Weinberg islamic flames country It does not help that some politicians and journalists assume the public is interested only in those aspects of science that promise immediate practical applications to technology or medicine. Steven Weinberg medicine technology promise A theorist today is hardly considered respectable if he or she has not introduced at least one new particle for which there is no experimental evidence. Steven Weinberg programming evidence today If history is any guide at all, it seems to me to suggest that there is a final theory. In this century we have seen a convergence of the arrows of explanation, like the convergence of meridians toward the North Pole. Steven Weinberg arrows science history Even in the dark times between experimental breakthroughs, there always continues a steady evolution of theoretical ideas, leading almost imperceptibly to changes in previous beliefs. Steven Weinberg change dark science Our mistake is not that we take our theories too seriously, but that we do not take them seriously enough. Steven Weinberg theory enough mistake It is even harder to realize that this present universe has evolved from an unspeakably unfamiliar early condition, and faces a future extinction of endless cold or intolerable heat. The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless. Steven Weinberg extinction future science Journalists generally have no bias toward one cosmological theory or another, but many have a natural preference for excitement. Steven Weinberg excitement evolution natural I think one of the great historical contributions of science is to weaken the hold of religion. That's a good thing. Steven Weinberg historical religion thinking How then did we come to the "standard model"? And how has it supplanted other theories, like the steady state model? It is a tribute to the essential objectivity of modern astrophysics that this consensus has been brought about, not by shifts in philosophical preference or by the influence of astrophysical mandarins, but by the pressure of empirical data. Steven Weinberg philosophical philosophy science Nothing in physics seems so hopeful to as the idea that it is possible for a theory to have a high degree of symmetry was hidden from us in everyday life. The physicist's task is to find this deeper symmetry. Steven Weinberg hopeful science ideas Rational argument can be defeated by refusing to argue rationally. Steven Weinberg argument arguing science Americans swept away the instruments of English hereditary inequality - entails and titles of nobility - even before we had a constitution. Steven Weinberg english away inequality constitution For someone who claimed to have found the true method for seeking reliable knowledge, it is remarkable how wrong Descartes was about so many aspects of nature. Steven Weinberg true someone nature knowledge When you do calculations using quantum mechanics, even when you are calculating something perfectly sensible like the energy of an atomic state, you get an answer that is infinite. This means you are wrong - but how do you deal with that? Is there something wrong with the theory, or something wrong with the way you are doing the calculation? Steven Weinberg doing you energy way
