"In fact, our ordinary description of nature, and the idea of exact laws, rests on the assumption that it is possible to observe the phenomena without appreciably influencing them." (Werner K Heisenberg, "The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory", 1930)
"It is not surprising that our language should be incapable of describing the processes occurring within the atoms, for, as has been remarked, it was invented to describe the experiences of daily life, and these consist only of processes involving exceedingly large numbers of atoms. Furthermore, it is very difficult to modify our language so that it will be able to describe these atomic processes, for words can only describe things of which we can form mental pictures, and this ability, too, is a result of daily experience." (Werner K Heisenberg, "The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory", 1930)
"As facts and knowledge accumulate, the claim of the scientist to an understanding of the world in a certain sense diminishes." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Zur Geschichte der physikalischen Naturerklärung", 1933)
"Our scientific work in physics consists in asking questions about nature in the language that we possess and trying to get an answer from experiment by the means at our disposal. In this way quantum theory reminds us, as Bohr has put it, of the old wisdom that when searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both players and spectators. It is understandable that in our scientific relation to nature our own activity becomes very important when we have to deal with parts of nature into which we can penetrate only by using the most elaborate tools." (Werner Heisenberg, "The Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Theory", 1958)
"The mathematical formulas indeed no longer portray nature, but rather our knowledge of nature." (Werner K Heisenberg, "The Representation of Nature in Contemporary Physics", Daedalus Vol. 87 (3), 1958)
"Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word ‘understanding’." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy", 1958)
"Take from your scientific work a serious and incorruptible method of thought, help to spread it, because no understanding is possible without it. Revere those things beyond science which really matter and about which it is so difficult to speak." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Philosophic Problems of Nuclear Science", 1952)
"Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer, but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man and nature. The scientific method of analysing, explaining, and classifying has become conscious of its limitations. […] Method and object can no longer be separated." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Das Naturbild der heutigen Physik" ["The Physicist's Conception of Nature"], 1955)
"Both science and art form in the course of the centuries a human language by which we can speak about the more remote parts of reality, and the coherent sets of concepts as well as the different styles of art are different words or groups of words in this language." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy", 1958)
"The existing scientific concepts cover always only a very limited part of reality, and the other part that has not yet been understood is infinite." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"[…] the often discussed lesson that has been learned from modern physics [is] that every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"The subject matter of research is no longer nature in itself, but nature subjected to human questioning." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Literature and Science", 1963)
"The genuine solution of a difficult problem is neither more nor less than a glimpse of the wider context, a glimpse that helps us to clear away other difficulties as well, including many whose existence we do not even suspect." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations", 1969)
"We try to understand the phenomena and, in doing so, we realize that all understanding begins with recognising similarities or regularities in the phenomena." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Natural Law and the Structure of Matter", 1970)
"Every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability. The incomplete knowledge of a system must be an essential part of every formulation in quantum theory." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Beyond", 1971)
"The mathematically formulated laws of quantum theory show clearly that our ordinary intuitive concepts cannot be unambiguously applied to the smallest particles. All the words or concepts we use to describe ordinary physical objects, such as position, velocity, color, size, and so on, become indefinite and problematic if we try to use them of elementary particles." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Across the Frontiers", 1974)
"If nature leads to mathematical forms of great simplicity and beauty - to forms that no one has previously encountered - we cannot help thinking that they are true and that they revealed genuine features of Nature." (Werner K Heisenberg)
"There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality." (Werner K Heisenberg)
"[…] we see from these formulations how difficult it is when we try to push new ideas into an old system of concepts belonging to an earlier philosophy, or, to use an old metaphor, when we attempt to put new wine into old bottles. Such attempts are always distressing, for they mislead us into continually occupying with the inevitable cracks in the old bottles, instead of rejoicing over the new wine." (Werner K Heisenberg)
"The mathematical formulas indeed no longer portray nature, but rather our knowledge of nature." (Werner K Heisenberg, "The Representation of Nature in Contemporary Physics", Daedalus Vol. 87 (3), 1958)
"Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word ‘understanding’." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy", 1958)
"Take from your scientific work a serious and incorruptible method of thought, help to spread it, because no understanding is possible without it. Revere those things beyond science which really matter and about which it is so difficult to speak." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Philosophic Problems of Nuclear Science", 1952)
"Science no longer confronts nature as an objective observer, but sees itself as an actor in this interplay between man and nature. The scientific method of analysing, explaining, and classifying has become conscious of its limitations. […] Method and object can no longer be separated." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Das Naturbild der heutigen Physik" ["The Physicist's Conception of Nature"], 1955)
"The uncertainty principle refers to the degree of indeterminateness in the possible present knowledge of the simultaneous values of various quantities with which the quantum theory deals; it does not restrict, for example, the exactness of a position measurement alone or a velocity measurement alone." (Werner Heisenberg, "The Uncertainty Principle", [in James R Newman, "The World of Mathematics" Vol. II], 1956)
"Above all, we see from these formulations how difficult it is when we try to push new ideas into an old system of concepts belonging to an earlier philosophy, or, to use an old metaphor, when we attempt to put new wine into old bottles. Such attempts are always distressing, for they mislead us into continually occupying with the inevitable cracks in the old bottles, instead of rejoicing over the new wine." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science", 1958)"Both science and art form in the course of the centuries a human language by which we can speak about the more remote parts of reality, and the coherent sets of concepts as well as the different styles of art are different words or groups of words in this language." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy", 1958)
"Even for the physicist the description in plain language will be a criterion of the degree of understanding that has been reached." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy", 1958)
"It will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"It will never be possible by pure reason to arrive at some absolute truth." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"The law of causality is no longer applied in quantum theory and the law of conservation of matter is no longer true for the elementary particles." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"The world thus appears as a complicated tissue of events, in which connections of different kinds alternate or overlap or combine and thereby determine the texture of the whole." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)"The existing scientific concepts cover always only a very limited part of reality, and the other part that has not yet been understood is infinite." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"[…] the often discussed lesson that has been learned from modern physics [is] that every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"We have to remember that what we observe is not nature herself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Philosophy: The revolution in modern science", 1958)
"The subject matter of research is no longer nature in itself, but nature subjected to human questioning." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Literature and Science", 1963)
"The genuine solution of a difficult problem is neither more nor less than a glimpse of the wider context, a glimpse that helps us to clear away other difficulties as well, including many whose existence we do not even suspect." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations", 1969)
"We try to understand the phenomena and, in doing so, we realize that all understanding begins with recognising similarities or regularities in the phenomena." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Natural Law and the Structure of Matter", 1970)
"Every word or concept, clear as it may seem to be, has only a limited range of applicability. The incomplete knowledge of a system must be an essential part of every formulation in quantum theory." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Physics and Beyond", 1971)
"The mathematically formulated laws of quantum theory show clearly that our ordinary intuitive concepts cannot be unambiguously applied to the smallest particles. All the words or concepts we use to describe ordinary physical objects, such as position, velocity, color, size, and so on, become indefinite and problematic if we try to use them of elementary particles." (Werner K Heisenberg, "Across the Frontiers", 1974)
"If nature leads to mathematical forms of great simplicity and beauty - to forms that no one has previously encountered - we cannot help thinking that they are true and that they revealed genuine features of Nature." (Werner K Heisenberg)
"There is a fundamental error in separating the parts from the whole, the mistake of atomizing what should not be atomized. Unity and complementarity constitute reality." (Werner K Heisenberg)
"[…] we see from these formulations how difficult it is when we try to push new ideas into an old system of concepts belonging to an earlier philosophy, or, to use an old metaphor, when we attempt to put new wine into old bottles. Such attempts are always distressing, for they mislead us into continually occupying with the inevitable cracks in the old bottles, instead of rejoicing over the new wine." (Werner K Heisenberg)
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