Eugene Wigner was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist and mathematician who received the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for introducing group theory and fundamental symmetry principles to quantum mechanics, and who designed the first operational nuclear reactors for the Manhattan Project.
Science-physics
Nobel Laureate Theoretical Physicist and Mathematician
Explore Birthdays
Honor the extraordinary legacy of Eugene Wigner on November 17 with these curated quotes, philosophical reflections, and heartfelt tributes celebrating their monumental impact on Nobel Laureate Theoretical Physicist and Mathematician.
“The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.”
“Symmetry principles provide the structure upon which the laws of nature are built.”
“Physics does not explain nature; it explains what we can say about nature.”
“Mathematics is the science of skillful operations with concepts and rules invented just for this purpose.”
“It is difficult to avoid the impression that a miracle has occurred when a purely mathematical formulation turns out to describe physical phenomena with astonishing precision.”
“It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness.”
“The human mind will never be capable of grasping the entire universe, but it is our greatest privilege to understand small pieces of it.”
“We worked on the atomic bomb not because we loved destruction, but because we knew what the world would become if totalitarian monsters got it first.”
“Politeness is the poison of collaboration; true scientific progress requires absolute, unsparing intellectual honesty.”
“Let us remember that science gives us power, but only wisdom and moral conscience can teach us how to use that power.”
Nobel Laureate Theoretical Physicist and Mathematician
