32+ Edward Witten Quotes On Education, Technology And Knowledge

Edward Witten is an American theoretical physicist and professor of mathematical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He is a major figure in string theory and is considered one of the greatest living physicists. He is also a recipient of the Fields Medal, the highest honor a mathematician can receive. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Edward Witten on education, technology, knowledge.

Top 10 Edward Witten Quotes

1. There was a long history of speculation that in quantum gravity, unlike Einstein's classical theory, it might be possible for the topology of spacetime to change.
2. I have a tendency, more than most other physicists, to try to figure out everything all at once, before I publish. And even to try to figure out everything in my head, without pencil and paper.
3. So when you ask me how string theory might be tested, I can tell you what's likely to happen at accelerators or some parts of the theory that are likely to be tested.
4. I have a much easier time imagining how we would understand the big bang, even though we can't do it yet, than I can imagine understanding consciousness.
5. As of now, string theorists have no explanation of why there are three large dimensions as well as time, and the other dimensions are microscopic. Proposals about that have been all over the map.
6. One very important aspect of string theory is definitely testable. That was the prediction of supersymmetry, which emerged from string theory in the early '70s.
7. The theory has to be interpreted that extra dimensions beyond the ordinary four dimensions the three spatial dimensions plus time are sufficiently small that they haven't been observed yet.
8. String theory is an attempt at a deeper description of nature by thinking of an elementary particle not as a little point but as a little loop of vibrating string.
9. One of the basic things about a string is that it can vibrate in many different shapes or forms, which gives music its beauty.
10. I wouldn't have thought that a wrong theory should lead us to understand better the ordinary quantum field theories or to have new insights about the quantum states of black holes.

Edward Witten Short Quotes

• 1/r^2 has a nasty singularity at r=0, but it did not bother Newton-the Moon is far enough.
• There is a difference between knowing what is true and knowing why it is true
• We know a lot of things, but what we don't know is a lot more.
• You enter a completely new world where things aren't at all what you're used to.
• M stands for Magic, Mystery, or Matrixaccording to taste
• Im actually, for the most part, a complete agnostic politically.

Edward Witten Quotes About Theory

Even before string theory, especially as physics developed in the 20th century, it turned out that the equations that really work in describing nature with the most generality and the greatest simplicity are very elegant and subtle. — Edward Witten

I just think too many nice things have happened in string theory for it to be all wrong. Humans do not understand it very well, but I just don't believe there is a big cosmic conspiracy that created this incredible thing that has nothing to do with the real world. — Edward Witten

Quantum mechanics brought an unexpected fuzziness into physics because of quantum uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. String theory does so again because a point particle is replaced by a string, which is more spread out. — Edward Witten

String theory is 21 st century physics that fell accidentally into the 20th century. — Edward Witten

On the other hand, we don't understand the theory too completely, and because of this fuzziness of spacetime, the very concept of spacetime and spacetime dimensions isn't precisely defined. — Edward Witten

Technically you need the extra dimensions. At first people didn't like them too much, but they've got a big benefit, which is that the ability of string theory to describe all the elementary particles and their forces along with gravity depends on using the extra dimensions. — Edward Witten

If I take the theory as we have it now, literally, I would conclude that extra dimensions really exist. They're part of nature. We don't really know how big they are yet, but we hope to explore that in various ways. — Edward Witten

Edward Witten Quotes About String

It's indeed surprising that replacing the elementary particle with a string leads to such a big change in things. I'm tempted to say that it has to do with the fuzziness it introduces. — Edward Witten

Having those extra dimensions and therefore many ways the string can vibrate in many different directions turns out to be the key to being able to describe all the particles that we see. — Edward Witten

Spreading out the particle into a string is a step in the direction of making everything we're familiar with fuzzy. You enter a completely new world where things aren't at all what you're used to. — Edward Witten

You have that one basic string, but it can vibrate in many ways. But we're trying to get a lot of particles because experimental physicists have discovered a lot of particles. — Edward Witten

Edward Witten Famous Quotes And Sayings

In Einstein's general relativity the structure of space can change but not its topology. Topology is the property of something that doesn't change when you bend it or stretch it as long as you don't break anything. — Edward Witten

As for the forces, electromagnetism and gravity we experience in everyday life. But the weak and strong forces are beyond our ordinary experience. So in physics, lots of the basic building blocks take 20th- or perhaps 21st-century equipment to explore. — Edward Witten

Quantum mechanics brought an unexpected fuzziness into physics because of quantum uncertainty, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. — Edward Witten

As far as extra dimensions are concerned, very tiny extra dimensions wouldn't be perceived in everyday life, just as atoms aren't: we see many atoms together but we don't see atoms individually. — Edward Witten

But the beauty of Einstein's equations, for example, is just as real to anyone who's experienced it as the beauty of music. We've learned in the 20th century that the equations that work have inner harmony. — Edward Witten

Life Lessons by Edward Witten

1. Edward Witten's work has shown that mathematics can be used to understand the fundamental structure of the universe.
2. His work has also demonstrated the power of combining mathematics and physics to uncover new insights.
3. His achievements serve as an example of the potential of mathematics to solve difficult problems and uncover new knowledge.