nobel-laureates-from-germany

"Chemists in the late 1800s knew that cyclic molecules existed, but the limitations on ring size were unclear. Although numerous compounds containing five-membered and six-membered rings were known, smaller and larger ring sizes had not been prepared, despite many efforts. A theoretical interpretation of this observation was proposed in 1885 by Adolf von Baeyer, who suggested that small and large rings might be unstable due to angle strain. … The data … show that Baeyer’s theory is only partially correct. Cyclopropane and cyclobutane are indeed strained, just as predicted, but cyclopentane is more strained than predicted, and cyclohexane is strain-free. Cycloalkanes of intermediate size have only modest strain, and rings of 14 carbons or more are strain-free. Why is Baeyer’s theory wrong? Baeyer’s theory is wrong for the simple reason that he assumed all cycloalkanes to be flat."

"It will rightly be asked: What is the synthetic principle on which this obviously highly important product of y-methylcyclopentenophenanthrene is built up in nature, and why is it that this particular type which, as founda tion of many substances indispensable to life and of extreme physiological and biological importance, plays such a vital role in the vegetable and animal kingdoms? However, the time has not yet come when we can give an answer to questions so fundamental and so important to an understanding of the workings of Nature. But I am firmly convinced that this problem - like all others - will eventually be solved."

"When a mixture of 1,3-butadiene and ethene is heated in the gas phase, a remarkable reaction takes place in which cyclohexene is formed by the simultaneous generation of two new carbon – carbon bonds. This is the simplest example of the Diels-Alder reaction, in which a conjugated diene adds to an alkene to yield cyclohexene derivatives. The Diels-Alder reaction is in turn a special case of the more general class of cycloaddition reactions between psystems, the products of which are called cycloadducts."

"In 1965, I was invited to a game theory workshop at Jerusalem which lasted for three weeks and had only 17 participants, but among them all the important researchers in game theory, with few exceptions. Game theory was still a small field. We had heated discussions about Harsanyi's new theory of games with incomplete information. This was the beginning of my long cooperation with John C. Harsanyi."

"Reinhard Selten shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in economics with John Nash and john harsanyi “for their pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games.” One problem with various Nash equilibria is that they are not always unique. Selten applied stronger conditions to reduce the number of possible equilibria and to eliminate equilibria that are unreasonable economically. In 1965 he introduced the concept of “subgame perfection,” his term for this winnowing down of possible equilibria. “At that time I did not suspect that it often would be quoted, almost exclusively for the definition of subgame perfectness,” Selten wrote in his Nobel autobiography."

"Models of bounded rationality describe how a judgement or decision is reached (that is, the heuristic processes or proximal mechanisms) rather than merely the outcome of the decision, and they describe the class of environments in which these heuristics will succeed or fail."

"Around 1958, I became aware of H.A. Simon's seminal papers on bounded rationality and was immediately convinced by his arguments. I tried to construct a theory of boundedly rational multigoal decision making. Together with Heinz Sauermann, I worked out an "aspiration adaptation theory of the firm" which was published as a journal article in 1962... More and more I came to the conclusion that purely speculative approaches like that of our paper of 1962 are of limited value. The structure of boundedly rational economic behavior cannot be invented in the armchair, it must be explored experimentally."

"My master's thesis and later my Ph.D. thesis had the aim of axiomatizing a value for e-person games in extensive form. This work made me familiar with the extensive form, in a time when very little work on extensive games was done. This enabled me to see the perfectness problem earlier than others and to write the contributions for which I am now honored by the prize in memory of Alfred Nobel."

"My first contact with game theory was a popular article in Fortune Magazine which I read in my last high school year. I was immediately attracted to the subject matter and when I studied mathematics I found the fundamental book by von Neumann and Morgenstern in the library and studied it."

"I was always skeptical about authority, about things which were told by authorities, because I was living in a country and in a time where the authority was utterly wrong, in my view. And therefore I distrusted, I feared authority, I also fear it today. I am in a very, very fearful, I mean maybe more than other people, but I distrust authority. That makes me more independent and also some part of rebellious,... I’m a maverick."

"Das Lichtmikroskop öffnete das erste Tor zum Mikrokosmos. Das Elektronenmikroskop öffnete das zweite Tor zum Mikrokosmos. Was werden wir finden wenn wir das dritte Tor öffnen?"

"In electron microscopy, the difficulties took considerably more time to surmount, and therefore the doubters held the field for a longer period. I can, however, also confirm from my own experience the observation of my colleagues that the doubt of the others has the advantage of leaving the field uncrowded. Mostly, this is understood only much later, in the beginning one is very disappointed."

"There are many examples in physics showing that higher precision revealed new phenomena, inspired new ideas, or confirmed or dethroned well-established theories."

"Quantum physics, which in contrast to the earlier theory, is characterized by the appearance of the elementary action quantum h and the designation of states in material systems by whole numbers, dates as theory only from the beginning of the twentieth century... However, some of its experimental roots extend far back into the nineteenth century. Of course, the measurements of the intensity of heat radiation which brought the change are a product of the last decade of that century. However, the photoelectric effect, and the wavelengths of the line and band spectra and also the dependence of the specific heats of certain substances on temperature had been known decades earlier. The older physics had hoped to arrive at an explanation of these findings; otherwise it is difficult to understand why Philipp von Jolly (1809-1884) told the inquiring young Planck that physics was essentially worked out and the pursuit of this science accordingly could hardly be very profitable. What appeared from time to time concerning line spectra could no longer stand up under rigid criticism when the discussion was based on the older ideas. On the other hand, quantum physics handled these problems more or less easily and in addition elucidated much of the newly acquired experimental observations."

"In the beginning was mechanics."

"Though the churches, in general, abstained from interfering officially, the scientific activities of the physicists have always been influenced by their private religious views. The latter, of course, were not necessarily identical with the ecclesiastical doctrines, but the philosophical attitudes of the scientists were affected, at least to some extent, by the prevailing religious thought. Kepler, Descartes, Leibniz, and Newton freely acknowledged this influence; it played a part in the principle of least action in the eighteenth century. After this period, in which Kant's philosophy proclaimed the complete independence of scientific understanding and religious belief, not much more about it is found in physical writings. However, this by no means signifies that the investigational urge of later scientists was not intimately connected with their religiosity. The tenet that the scientific experience of truth in any sense is "theoria," i.e., a view of God, might be said sincerely about the best of them. The search for knowledge without regard to its applicability for use has been "an essential trait of man through the centuries, a sign of his higher origin.""

"The pretention that some of us are better than others, I don't think is a very good thing. And who is contributing what to our progress in science is not so obvious and many who don't get that Nobel Prize are better than people than some of us that do get the Nobel Prize. … I think we should not be interested in prizes, we should be interested in learning about nature."

"The problem of transmitting scientific knowledge is a very difficult business."

"You only have one life. Whatever crops up, crops up."

"Probably in most education systems in a sense we are stuck with the disciplines as we created them last, last century and before that."

"It’s the boundaries where the excitement is and where we will be in the future."

"In any case, one needs to accept nature's teachings."

"Natural science wants man to learn, religion wants him to act."

"Long and tedious reflection cannot enable us to shape our decisions and attitudes properly; only that definite and clear instruction which we gain can form a direct inner link to God. This instruction alone is able to give us the inner firmness and lasting peace of mind which must be regarded as the highest boon in life. And if we ascribe to God, in addition to His omnipotence and omniscience, also the attributes of goodness and love, recourse to Him produces an increased feeling of safety and happiness in the human being thirsting for solace. Against this conception not even the slightest objection can be raised from the point of natural science, for as we pointed it out before, questions of ethics are entirely outside of its realm."

"No matter where and how far we look, nowhere do we find a contradiction between religion and natural science. On the contrary, we find a complete concordance in the very points of decisive importance. Religion and natural science do not exclude each other, as many contemporaries of ours would believe or fear. They mutually supplement and condition each other. The most immediate proof of the compatibility of religion and natural science, even under the most thorough critical scrutiny, is the historical fact that the very greatest natural scientists of all times—men such as Kepler, Newton, Leibniz—were permeated by a most profound religious attitude."

"Religion and natural science are fighting a joint battle in an incessant, never relaxing crusade against scepticism and against dogmatism, against disbelief and against superstition, and the rallying cry in this crusade has always been, and always will be: "On to God!""

"I... turned to the main topic of my... work... the study of... thermodynamics."

"[T]he writings of Rudolf Clausius... through their simplicity, clarity, and... preciseness made me... dedicate myself... to the... laws of theory."

"I was interested in the concept introduced by Clausius, entropy.., (in addition to energy,) one of the most important variables of nature."

"Energy remains constant and entropy always grows and can never be reduced... [T]his is the essence of the second law of thermodynamics...the entropy of a system of bodies can... only increase."

"In the limiting case, entropy] stays the same. If it increases.., the process is irreversible. If it remains the same.., the process is reversible... [i.e.,] you can let it run backwards."

"When occurs, entropy has reached... maximum. If entropy can no longer grow.., no change can occur. This... I applied to physical-chemical and to radiation equilibria."

"In physical-chemical equilibria, an American was faster... John Willard Gibbs... Regarding radiation equilibrium... I... built the foundations."

"I did not find the entropy of heat radiation... purely theoretically in the beginning. I only found it by reference to experimental measurements... To interpret these laws... found experimentally.., I was guided by the thoughts of Ludwig Boltzmann.., who was able to interpret the entropy of a from... atomic theory, as the logarithm of the probability of the state of the gas."

"The application of Boltzmann's procedure to could only succeed if one considered radiation as atomistic.., as a combination of... quanta... of a specific size.., known... by the previous measurements."

"At first I did not like this... as it contradicted... classical atomistics, and later... thanks to... numerous colleagues, it was shown to correspond to reality."

"It took a number of years until the physics community took notice of my theory... [I]t was misunderstood by many... and... ignored..."

"Due to more precise measurements... the values of the... physical constant.., the electric elementary quantum.., were getting closer to the value... I predicted from the radiation measurements."

"I generally always turned my interest to questions which possibly lead to a simplification... of ."

"[[Quantum mechanics|[Q]uantum theory]] has not reached its full maturity... [W]e still need... generalizations.., abstractions... This is... unsatisfactory, but... also... appropriate and joyful, because we will never reach the final conclusion about nature."

"Scientific pursuit will never stop. It would be terrible if it would... If there were no more problems, one would... turn one's head off and... not work any more. Such tranquility is stagnation and... death in a scientific sense."

"[[Happiness|[H]appiness]] of the scientist lies not in possessing the truth, but in discovering..."

"No burden is so heavy for a man to bear as a succession of happy days."

"There is no particular mystery about mathematical analysis; its only distinguishing feature is that it is more trustworthy, more precise, and permits us to proceed farther and along safer lines. Consider, for example, the well-known change of colour from red to white displayed by the light radiated through an aperture made in a heated enclosure, as the temperature increases. From this elementary fact of observation Planck, thanks to mathematical analysis, was able to deduce the existence of light quanta and thence the possibility that all processes of change were discontinuous, and that a body could only rotate with definite speeds. Obviously, commonplace reasoning unaided by mathematics would never have led us even to suspect these extraordinary results."

"Inasmuch as both Rayleigh's and Wien's laws of radiation, though incorrect, appear to express facts correctly at opposite limits of temperature and frequency, we may presume that the correct law must have an intermediary form, passing over into Rayleigh's when [temperature] T is large and [frequency] ν small, and into Wein's when the reverse situation... Planck, guided by these considerations, devised a new theory of radiation which he called the "Quantum Theory." From this theory Planck was able to derive a radiation law which satisfied Wien's relation, ...the displacement law [when the temperature is increased, intensities of all the frequencies increase, while the radiation of maximum intensity is directly proportional to the absolute temperature] and Stefan's law, and which was in excellent agreement with experimental measurements at all temperatures."

"Besides inventing quantum theory, Planck had made another great contribution to science by welcoming and generously supporting the young Albert Einstein. In 1905, when Einstein, then an unknown employee of the Swiss patent office in Bern, sent five revolutionary papers to the physics journal that Planck edited in Berlin, Planck immediately recognized them as works of genius and published them quickly without sending them to referees. He did not agree with all of Einstein’s ideas, but he published all of them. He helped Einstein to move ahead in the academic world, and in 1913 invited him to a full professorship in Berlin. For twenty years Planck and Einstein were friends and colleagues in Berlin, leaders of a scientific community that remained creative and vibrant, in spite of the political and economic disarray that surrounded them. Planck was the rock-solid central figure of German science, with the vision to promote the unorthodox and unpatriotic citizen-of-the-world Einstein."

"A man to whom it has been given to bless the world with a great creative idea has no need for the praise of posterity. His very achievement has already conferred a higher boon upon him."

"It was Planck's law of radiation that yielded the first exact determination—independent of other assumptions—of the absolute magnitudes of atoms. More than that, he showed convincingly that in addition to the atomistic structure of matter there is a kind of atomistic structure to energy, governed by the universal constant h, which was introduced by Planck. This discovery became the basis of all twentieth-century research in physics and has almost entirely conditioned its development ever since. Without this discovery it would not have been possible to establish a workable theory of molecules and atoms and the energy processes that govern their transformations. Moreover, it has shattered the whole framework of classical mechanics and electrodynamics and set science a fresh task: that of finding a new conceptual basis for all of physics."

"Farsighted theologians are now working to mine the eternal metal from the teachings of Jesus and to forge it for all time."

"It is clear, however, that the distinguishing mark of the whole development of theoretical chemistry and physics is the elimination of the anthropomorphic elements, especially specific sense-impressions, from the concepts. This process is called by Prof. M. Planck the objectification of the physical system."