Physics

Explore 10 quotes about Physics

Give me but one firm spot on which to stand and I will move the earth.

Archimedes

Quoted in History of the World, by Diodorus Siculus

On the action of a lever.

More information about this quote

Topic

Laws of physics Physics

Speaker

Archimedes

Author

Diodorus Siculus

Source

History of the World

Language

Greek

Time

212 BC 210s BC 3rd century BC

Era

Classical antiquity

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

Archimedes. Quoted in History of the World, written by Diodorus Siculus. c. 20 BC.

Current Citation

Archimedes. Quoted in Diodorus Siculus: Library of History, Volume IX, Books 18-19.65. Harvard University Press, 1947.

Moreover, in a system of two bodies mutually acting upon each other, since the differences between their centres and the common centre of gravity of both are reciprocally as the bodies, the relative motions of those bodies, whether of approaching to or of receding from that centre, will be equal junong themselves. Therefore since the changes which happen to motions are equal and directed to contrary parts.

Isaac Newton

Principia

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More information about this quote

Topic

Cause and effect Laws of physics Physics Science

Author

Isaac Newton

Source

Principia

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

Latin

Time

1687 1680s 17th century

Era

Age of Enlightenment

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axiomata sive Leges Motus: [Axioms, or Laws of Motion]." Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica [The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy], vol. 1. London: Josephi Streater, 1687, law 3.

Current Citation

Newton, Isaac. "Axioms, or the Laws of Motion." The Principia, translated by Andrew Motte. Prometheus, 1995, law 3.

That all things are changed, and that nothing really perishes, and that the sum of matter remains exactly the same, is sufficiently certain.

Francis Bacon

More information about this quote

Topic

Laws of physics The only constant is change Physics

Author

Francis Bacon

Source

Thoughts on the Nature of Things

Genre

Philosophical literature

Language

Latin

Time

1604 1600s 17th century

Era

European Renaissance

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bacon, Francis. Cogitationes de Natura Rerum [Thought on the Nature of Things]. c. 1604.

I ask you to look both ways. For the road to a knowledge of the stars leads through the atom; and important knowledge of the atom has been reached through the stars.

Arthur Eddington

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Topic

Big vs. small Stars Atoms Physics

Speaker

Arthur Eddington

Source

Stars and Atoms

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1926 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eddington, Arthur. Stars and Atoms. The Clarendon Press, 1938, lecture 1. Originally a discourse called "Stars and Atoms." Meeting of the British Association. Aug. 1926, Oxford, England, UK.

Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that the element uranium may be turned into a new and important source of energy in the immediate future. Certain aspects of the situation which has arisen seem to call for watchfulness and if necessary, quick action on the part of the Administration.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

Nuclear weapons Physics Moments of discovery

Author

Albert Einstein

Source

Letters of Albert Einstein

Medium

Letter

Language

English

Time

1939 1930s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Einstein, Albert. Quoted in Einstein on Peace, edited by Otto Nathan and Heinz Norden. Simon and Schuster, 1960, ch. 9. Originally from Letter to Franklin Roosevelt, 2 Aug. 1939.

If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.

Albert Einstein

More information about this quote

Topic

Relativity Physics

Speaker

Albert Einstein

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1929 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 1

Original Citation

Einstein, Albert. Address in Paris. c. Dec. 1929, Sorbonne, Paris, France.

Current Citation

Einstein, Albert. "Einstein on Classifications." New York Times, 16 Feb. 1930.

If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason-for then we would know the mind of God.

Stephen Hawking

A Brief History of Time

On the question of why the universe exists.

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More information about this quote

Topic

Origin of the universe The universe Physics

Author

Stephen Hawking

Source

A Brief History of Time

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1988 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Hawking, Steven. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Bantam Dell Publishing Group, 1988, conclusion.

If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms-little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed and into one another.

Richard Feynman

More information about this quote

Topic

Atomism Physics

Speaker

Richard Feynman

Medium

Lecture

Language

English

Time

1961 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Feynman, Richard. Lecture at Caltech. c. 1961, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA.

There is no democracy in physics. We can't say that some second-rate guy has as much right to opinion as Fermi.

Luis Walter Alvarez

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Topic

Physics

Speaker

Luis Walter Alvarez

Source

The Politics of Pure Science

Genre

Scientific literature Political literature

Language

English

Time

1967 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Alvarez, Luis Walter. Quoted in The Politics of Pure Science, written by Daniel S. Greenberg. New American Library, 1967.

I am standing on the threshold about to enter a room. It is a complicated business. In the first place I must shove against an atmosphere pressing with a force of fourteen pounds on every square inch of my body. I must make sure of landing on a plank travelling at twenty miles a second round the sun-a fraction of a second too early or too late, the plank would be miles away. I must do this whilst hanging from a round planet, head outward into space, and with a wind of aether blowing at no one knows how many miles a second through every interstice of my body.

Arthur Eddington

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Topic

Physics

Author

Arthur Eddington

Source

The Nature of the Physical World

Genre

Scientific literature

Language

English

Time

1928 1920s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Eddington, Arthur. "The Nature Of The Physical World." Gifford lecture. January – March 1927, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland.