Physics As We Know It Will Be

His [erwin Schrödinger's] Private Life Seemed Strange To Bourgeois People Like Ourselves. But All This Does Not Matter. He Was A Most Lovable Person, Independent, Amusing, Temperamental, Kind And Generous, And He Had A Most Perfect And Efficient Brain.

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.

There Are Two Objectionable Types Of Believers: Those Who Believe The Incredible And Those Who Believe That 'belief' Must Be Discarded And Replaced By 'the Scientific Method.

I Have Tried To Read Philosophers Of All Ages And Have Found Many Illuminating Ideas But No Steady Progress Toward Deeper Knowledge And Understanding. Science, However, Gives Me The Feeling Of Steady Progress: I Am Convinced That Theoretical Physics Is Actual Philosophy. It Has Revolutionized Fundamental Concepts, E.g., About Space And Time (relativity), About Causality (quantum Theory), And About Substance And Matter (atomistics), And It Has Taught Us New Methods Of Thinking (complementarity) Which Are Applicable Far Beyond Physics.

It Is True That Many Scientists Are Not Philosophically Minded And Have Hitherto Shown Much Skill And Ingenuity But Little Wisdom.