The helium which we handle must have been put together at some time and some place. We do not argue with the critic who urges that the stars are not hot enough for this process; we tell him to go and find a hotter place. Arthur Eddington More Quotes by Arthur Eddington More Quotes From Arthur Eddington What we makes of the world must be largely dependent on the sense-organs that we happen to possess. How the world must have changed since the man came to rely on his eyes rather than his nose. Arthur Eddington eye noses men It is also a good rule not to put overmuch confidence in the observational results that are put forward until they are confirmed by theory. Arthur Eddington statistics results theory There is only one law of Nature-the second law of thermodynamics-which recognises a distinction between past and future more profound than the difference of plus and minus. It stands aloof from all the rest. ... It opens up a new province of knowledge, namely, the study of organisation; and it is in connection with organisation that a direction of time-flow and a distinction between doing and undoing appears for the first time. Arthur Eddington time science knowledge Human life is proverbially uncertain; few things are more certain than the solvency of a life-insurance company. Arthur Eddington statistics math life Science is one thing, wisdom is another. Science is an edged tool, with which men play like children, and cut their own fingers. Arthur Eddington cutting men children Shuffling is the only thing which Nature cannot undo. Arthur Eddington shuffling If I let my fingers wander idly over the keys of a typewriter it might happen that my screed made an intelligible sentence. If an army of monkeys were strumming on typewriters they might write all the books in the British Museum. The chance of their doing so is decidedly more favourable than the chance of the molecules returning to one half of the vessel. Arthur Eddington army writing book It is one thing for the human mind to extract from the phenomena of nature the laws which it has itself put into them; it may be a far harder thing to extract laws over which it has no control. It is even possible that laws which have not their origin in the mind may be irrational, and we can never succeed in formulating them. Arthur Eddington law mind may So far as physics is concerned, time's arrow is a property of entropy alone. Arthur Eddington thrive arrows physics It is impossible to trap modern physics into predicting anything with perfect determinism because it deals with probabilities from the outset. Arthur Eddington perfect impossible math It cannot be denied that for a society which has to create scarcity to save its members from starvation, to whom abundance spells disaster, and to whom unlimited energy means unlimited power for war and destruction, there is an ominous cloud in the distance though at present it be no bigger than a man's hand. Arthur Eddington distance war mean The quest of the absolute leads into the four-dimensional world. Arthur Eddington quests four world Who will observe the observers? Arthur Eddington observers An electron is no more (and no less) hypothetical than a star. Nowadays we count electrons one by one in a Geiger counter, as we count the stars one by one on a photographic plate. Arthur Eddington hypothesis stars science I believe there are 15, 747, 724, 136, 275, 002, 577, 605, 653, 961, 181, 555, 468, 044, 717, 914, 527, 116, 709, 366, 231, 425, 076, 185, 631, 031, 296 protons in the universe and the same number of electrons. Arthur Eddington mathematics numbers believe Proof is an idol before which the mathematician tortures himself. Arthur Eddington education math knowledge There is no space without aether, and no aether which does not occupy space. Arthur Eddington space doe science In the most modern theories of physics probability seems to have replaced aether as "the nominative of the verb 'to undulate'." Arthur Eddington verbs physics science The understanding between a non-technical writer and his reader is that he shall talk more or less like a human being and not like an Act of Parliament. I take it that the aim of such books must be to convey exact thought in inexact language... he can never succeed without the co-operation of the reader. Arthur Eddington understanding science book It is sound judgment to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star. Arthur Eddington understand future simple hope
