"From the age of 13, I was attracted to physics and mathematics. My interest in these subjects derived mostly from popular science books that I read avidly. Early on I was fascinated by theoretical phy..."
- David Gross
"[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."
- Harold Urey
"...the scientific attitude implies what I call the postulate of objectivity—that is to say, the fundamental postulate that there is no plan, that there is no intention in the universe. Now, this is ba..."
- Jacques Monod
"The progress of science has always been the result of a close interplay between our concepts of the universe and our observations on nature. The former can only evolve out of the latter and yet the la..."
- Tsung-Dao Lee
"I think that the event which, more than anything else, led me to the search for ways of making more powerful radio telescopes, was the recognition, in 1952, that the intense source in the constellatio..."
- Martin Ryle
"But every day I go to work I'm making a bet that the universe is simple, symmetric, and aesthetically pleasing—a universe that we humans, with our limited perspective, will someday understand."
- George Smoot
"I am not religious in any sense; in fact, I consider myself an atheist."
- Subrahmanijan Chandrasekhar
"I am an atheist."
- Hans Bethe
"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 ..."
"[Pure research] is worth every penny it costs."