Those Who Say That The Study Of

The Belief That There Is Only One Truth And That Oneself Is In Possession Of It Seems To Me The Deepest Root Of All Evil That Is In The World.

I Believe That Ideas Such As Absolute Certitude, Absolute Exactness, Final Truth, Etc. Are Figments Of The Imagination Which Should Not Be Admissible In Any Field Of Science... This Loosening Of Thinking Seems To Me To Be The Greatest Blessing Which Modern Science Has Given To Us. For The Belief In A Single Truth And In Being The Possessor Thereof Is The Root Cause Of All Evil In The World.

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.

It Is A Fascinating Fact That Father And Son Have Given The Most Striking Evidence For The Apparently Contradictory Properties Of The Electron: The Father Proving Its Character As A Particle, The Son Its Character As A Wave... Thomson Was Extremely Proud Of His Son's Success And Tried To Assimilate The New Results Into His Old Convictions.