The British philosopher Bertrand Russell said that philosophy went downhill after Democritus and did not recover until the Renaissance. Leon M. Lederman More Quotes by Leon M. Lederman More Quotes From Leon M. Lederman Physics isn't a religion. If it were, we'd have a much easier time raising money. Leon M. Lederman timesciencereligion The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God. Leon M. Lederman mathematicianphysicist Those who do not stop asking silly questions become scientists. Leon M. Lederman scientistaskingsilly We hope to explain the entire universe in a single, simple formula that you can wear on your T-shirt. Leon M. Lederman shirtst-shirtsimple Science should have no less lofty a goal. My ambition is to live to see all of physics reduced to a formula so elegant and simple that it will fit easily on the front of a T-shirt. Leon M. Lederman ambitionsimpleshould-have The sequence of theorist, experimenter, and discovery has occasionally been compared to the sequence of farmer, pig, truffle. The farmer leads the pig to an area where there might be truffles. The pig searches diligently for the truffles. Finally, he locates one, and just as he is about to devour it, the farmer snatches it away. Leon M. Lederman discoverypigsscience Theorists write all the popular books on science: Heinz Pagels, Frank Wilczek, Stephen Hawking, Richard Feynman, et al. And why not? They have all that spare time. Leon M. Lederman writingsciencebook My children have often asked me why I never received a Nobel Prize. I used to tell them it was because the Nobel committee couldn’t make up its mind which of my projects to recognize. Leon M. Lederman usedmindchildren He [Democritus] is probably best known for two of the most scientifically intuitive quotes ever uttered by an ancient: 'Nothing exists except atoms and space, everything else is opinion'. Leon M. Lederman atomsspacetwo I'm so old I can remember when the Dead Sea was only sick. Leon M. Lederman sicksearemember One of the major ingredients for professional success in science is luck. Without this, forget it. Leon M. Lederman ingredientsphysicsluck The real goal of physics is to come up with an equation that could explain the universe but still be small enough to fit on a T-shirt Leon M. Lederman realgoalscience The aether: Invented by Isaac Newton, reinvented by James Clerk Maxwell. This is the stuff that fills up the empty space of the universe. Discredited and discarded by Einstein, the aether is now making a Nixonian comeback. It's really the vacuum, but burdened by theoretical, ghostly particles. Leon M. Lederman clerksspacescience During an intense period of lab work, the outside world vanishes and the obsession is total. Sleep is when you can curl up on the accelerator floor for an hour. Leon M. Lederman curlssleepscience The history of atomism is one of reductionism – the effort to reduce all the operations of nature to a small number of laws governing a small number of primordial objects. Leon M. Lederman small-numberseffortlaw Where do we stand today compared to Greece circa 400 B.C.? Today's experiment-driven 'standard model' is not all that dissimilar to Democritus's speculative [sic] atomic theory. Leon M. Lederman standardsdriventoday Science is not about status quo. It's about revolution. Leon M. Lederman status-quorevolution I started out as a molecules kid. In high school and early college I loved chemistry, but I gradually shifted toward physics, which seemed cleaner - odorless, in fact. Leon M. Lederman collegekidsschool I sometimes think about the tower at Pisa as the first particle accelerator, a (nearly) vertical linear accelerator that Galileo used in his studies. Leon M. Lederman towerssciencethinking Particle physics suffers more from being infected by the socio-political mood of the day than from lack of spectacular opportunities for major and profound discoveries. Leon M. Lederman opportunitydiscoveryprofound
