I Am Now Convinced That Theoretical Physics

Science?is So Greatly Opposed To History And Tradition That It Cannot Be Absorbed By Our Civilization.

It Is Natural That A Man Should Consider The Work Of His Hands Or His Brain To Be Useful And Important. Therefore Nobody Will Object To An Ardent Experimentalist Boasting Of His Measurements And Rather Looking Down On The 'paper And Ink' Physics Of His Theoretical Friend, Who On His Part Is Proud Of His Lofty Ideas And Despises The Dirty Fingers Of The Other. Experiment And Theory In Physics

During My Span Of Life Science Has Become A Matter Of Public Concern And The L'art Pour L'art Standpoint Of My Youth Is Now Obsolete. Science Has Become An Integral And Most Important Part Of Our Civilization, And Scientific Work Means Contributing To Its Development. Science In Our Technical Age Has Social, Economic, And Political Functions, And However Remote One's Own Work Is From Technical Application It Is A Link In The Chain Of Actions And Decisions Which Determine The Fate Of The Human Race. I Realized This Aspect Of Science In Its Full Impact Only After Hiroshima.

It Is Odd To Think That There Is A Word For Something Which, Strictly Speaking, Does Not Exist, Namely, "rest." We Distinguish Between Living And Dead Matter; Between Moving Bodies And Bodies At Rest. This Is A Primitive Point Of View. What Seems Dead, A Stone Or The Proverbial "door-nail," Say, Is Actually Forever In Motion. We Have Merely Become Accustomed To Judge By Outward Appearances; By The Deceptive Impressions We Get Through Our Senses.

Something Which Is Against Natural Laws Seems To Me Rather Out Of The Question Because It Would Be A Depressive Idea About God. It Would Make God Smaller Than He Must Be Assumed. When He Stated That These Laws Hold, Then They Hold, And He Wouldn't Make Exceptions. This Is Too Human An Idea. Humans Do Such Things, But Not God.