Editor at ‘The Secrets Of The Universe’, I have completed my Master’s in Physics from Punjab, India and I am currently pursuing my doctoral studies on Radio Emissions of Exoplanets in Barcelona, Spain. I love to write about a plethora of topics concerned with planetary sciences, observational astrophysics, quantum mechanics and atomic physics, along with the advancements taking place in the space industry.
On April 23, 1858, a child was born into an intellectual family of lawyers and theologians in Northern Germany. But who knew that one day, this child would change the entire world’s way of looking at things by revolutionizing the human understanding of atomic and subatomic processes! Yes, I am talking about none other than “Max Planck,” The Father of Quantum Physics.
Shortly called Max Planck, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was always fascinated by the idea that energy is always conserved. However, it was in 1894 when Planck turned his attention towards radiations emitted by a blackbody that set him on his way to become the father of Quantum physics. Max Planck found that energy is emitted by objects only in quantized form, which means that atoms don’t release energy continuously, rather energy is released in the form of discrete packets.
Planck’s discovery marked an important moment in science because no one had ever realized earlier that energy is released from atoms, only in a small, discrete amounts. This breakthrough marked the beginning of quantum mechanics. It not only led to the development of a new model of the atom, but also won Max Planck the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Also read: All the articles of Basics of Astrophysics series
Moreover, Planck was one of the first few scientists to realise the importance of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. Planck’s support was truly instrumental in leading the way Einstein’s new theories gained widespread acceptance in Germany and the rest of the world. Revered by his colleagues not only for the importance of his discoveries but also for his great personal qualities, Planck was a an exceptionally gifted pianist as well. So today, on the 163rd birth anniversary of this brilliant mind, let’s have a look at ten of the finest quotes ever said by him!
Quotes by Max Planck:
Experiment is the only means of knowledge at our disposal. Everything else is poetry, imagination
Whence come I and whither go I? That is the great unfathomable question, the same for every one of us. Science has no answer to it.
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Related:
- Life lessons that we can learn from Paul Dirac
- What is spin in quantum mechanics?
- Deriving the value of Planck’s constant at home
We cannot rest and sit down lest we rust and decay. Health is maintained only through work. And as it is with all life so it is with science. We are always struggling from the relative to the absolute.
Insight must precede application.
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An important scientific innovation rarely makes its way by gradually winning over and converting its opponents: What does happen is that the opponents gradually die out.
Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: ‘Ye must have faith.’
All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.
This is one of man’s oldest riddles. How can the independence of human volition be harmonized with the fact that we are integral parts of a universe which is subject to the rigid order of nature’s laws?
