Michio Kaku - Collected Quotes

"Nature is like a work by Bach or Beethoven, often starting with a central theme and making countless variations on it that are scattered throughout the symphony. By this criterion, it appears that strings are not fundamental concepts in nature." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"No other theory known to science [other than superstring theory] uses such powerful mathematics at such a fundamental level. […] because any unified field theory first must absorb the Riemannian geometry of Einstein’s theory and the Lie groups coming from quantum field theory. […] The new mathematics, which is responsible for the merger of these two theories, is topology, and it is responsible for accomplishing the seemingly impossible task of abolishing the infinities of a quantum theory of gravity." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"Reality has always proved to be much more sophisticated and subtle than any preconceived philosophy." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"Remarkably, only a handful of fundamental physical principles are sufficient to summarize most of modern physics." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"Riemann concluded that electricity, magnetism, and gravity are caused by the crumpling of our three-dimensional universe in the unseen fourth dimension. Thus a 'force' has no independent life of its own; it is only the apparent effect caused by the distortion of geometry. By introducing the fourth spatial dimension, Riemann accidentally stumbled on what would become one of the dominant themes in modern theoretical physics, that the laws of nature appear simple when expressed in higher-dimensional space. He then set about developing a mathematical language in which this idea could be expressed." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"Scientific revolutions, almost by definition, defy common sense." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"When Physicists speak of 'beauty' in their theories, they really mean that their theory possesses at least two essential features: 1. A unifying symmetry 2. The ability to explain vast amounts of experimental data with the most economical mathematical expressions." (Michio Kaku, "Hyperspace", 1995)

"[…] the laws of physics, carefully constructed after thousands of years of experimentation, are nothing but the laws of harmony one can write down for strings and membranes." (Michio Kaku, "Parallel Worlds: A journey through creation, higher dimensions, and the future of the cosmos", 2004)

"Chaos theory, for example, uses the metaphor of the ‘butterfly effect’. At critical times in the formation of Earth’s weather, even the fluttering of the wings of a butterfly sends ripples that can tip the balance of forces and set off a powerful storm. Even the smallest inanimate objects sent back into the past will inevitably change the past in unpredictable ways, resulting in a time paradox." (Michio Kaku, "Parallel Worlds: A journey through creation, higher dimensions, and the future of the cosmos", 2004)

"The universe is a symphony of strings, and the mind of God that Einstein eloquently wrote about for thirty years would be cosmic music resonating through eleven-dimensional hyper space." (Michio Kaku, "Parallel Worlds: A journey through creation, higher dimensions, and the future of the cosmos", 2004)

"To understand the precise point when the possible becomes the impossible, you have to appreciate and understand the laws of physics." (Michio Kaku, "The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind", 2014)