10 Inspiring Carl Sagan Quotes That Will Change Your Life

Carl Sagan was an American scientist who is best known for Cosmos: a personal voyage in which he kindled a public curiosity about science and astronomy through television. He became an inspiration for many aspiring students, including future astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Other than being an advisor to NASA, Carl Sagan also wrote award winning books, such as Dragons of Eden which won the Pulitzer Prize, and made sci-fi films, like Contact starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey.

Following are 10 quotes by Carl Sagan which will not only open your mind, but also change your life for real.

1. Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.

This quote encourages us to explore the unknown with excitement. Many a times doctoral students lose hope because what an arduous journey it is to get a PhD. But Carl Sagan says there is always something new to discover, if we do not give up.

2. The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

A reminder that we are part of something much bigger, encouraging us to embrace our potential, which may now be hidden or dormant, and to explore our connection to the universe. It links personal ambition to grandeur of the universe.

3. Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.

 

This quote is similar to Einstein's imagination is more important than knowledge. It is highlighting the power of creative thinking. In any sphere of life, imagination and creativity are of paramount importance.

4. For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.

This quote is my favorite. We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever. This motivates students to find strength in connection and passion. Sagan believes that the power of love is a great motivating force, especially when faced with the enormity of existence.

picture by Kenneth C. Zirkel

5. The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use, we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

Carl Sagan understands the significance of acquiring knowledge, celebrating the thrill of intellectual effort.

6. It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

It is crucial for students to be critical, logical and inquisitive. This quote is urging students to seek truth over comfort.

7. We are star stuff which has taken its destiny into its own hands.

What a beautiful thought isn't it? This quote by Carl Sagan encourages self-empowerment, reinforcing that we have the potential to shape our own futures. Destiny is created.

8. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers.

This quote is pushing students to ask hard questions and seek profound solutions. The world only changes and evolves if we keep asking questions to authority unafraid. This passion, is precious....

9. The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.

..... however, passion may not always lead to the solutions we want. This quote is a reminder that the universe doesn't cater to our desires, so we must find our own path and purpose in the world. In our capacity we should do what we can without worrying about the result.

10. In the vastness of space and the immensity of time, it is my joy to share a planet and an epoch with you.

This Carl Sagan quote is a reminder that we only live once. Seize the moment and connect with others in the journey of learning. Do not wait for the next opportunity in the future while the present waits for you. Time is slipping away at the passing of every thought which did not turn into action.

How Squirrels Use Physice In Daily Life?

I was sitting in a park nearby my house, bored, having listened to all the trending songs in one go, when I saw a couple of Squirrels jumping from tree to tree. They reminded me of Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield as Spiderman. More importantly, I was astonished at how they were using the principles of physics to go about their daily lives... 

Although squirrels or any other animal for that matter are not consciously aware of physics, they certainly interact with physical laws in fascinating ways. I am sure you, the reader, must have come across these 10 ways in which squirrels use physics in their everyday lives:

1. Parabolic Jumping: When squirrels jump from one branch to another, they follow a parabolic ttrajectory. Not only that, they spread their arms and legs as if they were birds to increase the surface area and lift force. I wonder if squirrels calculate the optimal angle and velocity needed to reach their destination.

2. Gravitational Potential Energy: When squirrels climb trees, they increase their potential energy. As they descend, they convert this energy into kinetic energy. I have seen them speed up and down the tree like it was nothing. Their bodies are also very elastic, which helps them in their daily chores. I wish I could climb a tree like that.

3. Friction for Grip: Have you noticed how Squirrels have sharp claws? Tiny but still firm. These claws allow them to grip surfaces with high friction. This friction is essential for climbing vertical tree trunks, allowing them to move quickly and stay stable while navigating tricky terrain. No wonder I can't climb with ease as my hands are always sweaty.

4. Elastic Potential Energy: Squirrels' tails act like a rudder and balance aid, but they also store and release elastic potential energy from their tail when the squirrel jumps or changes direction mid-air. This helps them land more precisely or correct their movement in mid-flight. The tail makes up and significant portion of their body weight and acts like a mechanism to (almost) fly.

5. Rotational Motion: When squirrels leap or fall, they can twist their bodies in mid-air, adjusting their orientation using their limbs and tail. This rotational motion allows them to land feet-first and avoid injury.

6. Energy Conservation: Squirrels run very fast, but for shorter periods of time. Like a Cheetah. This combination of high-speed running and short bursts of activity allows them to conserve energy while traveling long distances or evading predators.

7. Bouncing: When squirrels jump off hard surfaces or onto bouncy objects (such as a trampoline-like surface in a tree), their bodies absorb and release energy through elasticity, softening the landing and reducing the risk of injury.

8. Inertia and Momentum: When a squirrel is running at high speed and suddenly changes direction, its body mass and velocity create inertia, making it harder to stop. But with enough friction, it can quickly change direction without sliding, maintaining its momentum.

9. Gliding: There is a species of squirrels which flies, aptly called the flying squirrel. They have a fluffy membrane between their fore and hind legs, helping them to glide. The physics of air resistance helps them stay in the air longer and glide to distant points safely. Not all squirrels can glide long distances though, which is disappointing.

10. Balance and Center of Mass: Squirrels constantly adjust their center of mass as they move along narrow branches or leap across gaps. By shifting their body position and adjusting their posture, they maintain balance and stability to prevent falling. Have you noticed how they pose like Spiderman when they land? That's them adjusting their center of mass to make a safe fall.

In all these (and possibly more) ways, squirrels engage with the principles of physics in daily life, allowing them to thrive in their harsh environments.

10 Facts About Emmy Noether, First Lady of Mathematics

Despite facing adversity as a woman in a male-dominated field, Emmy Noether is regarded as one of the most important mathematicians of the 20th century, with a significant impact on both mathematics and physics.

Following are ten amazing facts about Emmy Noether, who is often called the First Lady of mathematics:

1. Emmy Noether came from a family of mathematicians. Her father, Max Noether, was a mathematician and her brother, Fritz Noether, was also a mathematician.

2. Noether studied several languages and literature before pursuing mathematics at the University of Erlangen, where she earned her PhD in 1907.

3. In the early part of her career, Noether was not allowed to teach at any university due to her gender. Women were not treated as equal in academia at that time. She worked as an unpaid lecturer.

4. Noether is known for her groundbreaking work in abstract algebra. Perhaps her most famous contribution is a theorem which links symmetries in physics to conservation laws. Noether's theorem explains why there are laws like conservation of energy or conservation of momentum.

5. In 1915, Noether moved to the University of Göttingen, one of the world's leading centers of mathematics at the time. She collaborated with prominent mathematicians, including David Hilbert.

6. Emmy Noether also helped Albert Einstein, particularly in understanding and resolving issues within his theory of general relativity. In 1918 she proved two theorems that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics.

7. In 1933, Noether fled Nazi Germany due to her Jewish heritage and moved to the United States, where she continued her work at Bryn Mawr College, where she was appointed as a professor.

8. Noether passed away on April 14, 1935, at the age of 53, after a surgery to remove an ovarian cyst. Noether's influence on mathematics continues to be immense, and her work laid the foundation for much of the development of modern abstract algebra and theoretical physics.

9. Noether's work was recognized by leading mathematicians of her time, including Pavel Alexandrov, Albert Einstein, Jean Dieudonné, Hermann Weyl, and Norbert Wiener, who described her as "the most important woman in the history of mathematics."

10. Despite facing adversity as a woman in a male-dominated field, Noether made a strong mark in academia. Einstein himself wrote in an obituary that she was "the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began".

5 Physicists Who Won Nobel Prize In Chemistry

All science is either physics or stamp collecting. This is how physicist Ernest Rutherford compared physics, the king of all sciences to other less fundamental sciences. Quite ironically, Rutherford won a Nobel Prize in chemistry later on.

In this post, let us take a look at physicists who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry:

1. Ernest Rutherford

Rutherford was a New Zealand physicist who is known for proposing the nuclear model of atom. Rutherford is also called the father of nuclear physics, courtesy of his gold foil experiment. He won a Nobel prize in chemistry in 1908 for his services to studies into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances.

2. Marie Curie

Madame Curie was a physicist and chemist who won two Nobel prizes in both the sciences. The first prize was received in physics, for investigations on radioactivity. The second Nobel, which was for chemistry, was won in 1911 for discovering radium and polonium.

3. Walter Kohn

Walter Kohn was an Austrian American physicist who won the 1998 Nobel prize in chemistry for understanding the electronic properties of materials. Kohn had received MA degree in mathematics from University of Toronto and PhD in physics from Harvard university in 1948.

4. John Pople

John Pople shared the 1998 Nobel prize in chemistry with Kohn, he won the coveted prize for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry. Pople got a PhD degree in maths from Cambridge university in 1951. He then worked as head of physics division at national physical laboratory in London.

5. Venki Ramakrishnan

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan won the 2009 Nobel prize in chemistry for research on ribosomes. He got his bachelor of science degree in physics in 1971. After that Venki Ramakrishnan received his PhD in physics from Ohio university in 1976. He spent the next two years making a transition from physics to biology.

5 Popular Characters Inspired By Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein is a world renowned genius whose influence knew no bounds when he was alive. Even after death, Einstein has served as an inspiration not only to students, but also to writers, filmmakers and comedians alike.

Most recently, Einstein was shown in Christopher Nolan's Oscar winning movie - Oppenheimer, a familiar portrayal of the genius by Tom Conti. Albert Einstein is seen as a mentor to Robert Oppenheimer, the protagonist. Historically, Einstein is known to have initiated a request for Manhattan project.

Following is a list of 5 popular fictional characters who are inspired by Albert Einstein:

1. The 1988 film Young Einstein presents a fictionalized version of Einstein’s early life. In this version, Einstein is shown as the son of a Tasmanian apple farmer who not only develops the theory of relativity, but also surfing and rock and roll. His theory, E=mc^2 is shown as method for splitting beer atoms!

2. In the 2001 film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, Einstein was portrayed as a holographic personality called Dr. Know and voiced by Robin Williams.

3. In the film Back to the Future, Doc Brown is portrayed as a brilliant scientist, time traveler and inventor. He resembles Einstein and has a dog named Einstein, who is Brown's favorite scientist. No wonder Doc Brown's hair is all over the place like Einstein's. Christopher Lloyd, who played the character credited Einstein as being his inspiration for the character.

4. The 2009 film The Nutcracker in 3D includes a character named Uncle Albert which was played by Nathan Lane, who resembles Einstein, speaks with a German accent, and recites Albert Einstein quotes. On the internet, many of Einstein's quotes are often misattributed, but that is a different story.

5. Another Einstein like character appears in Nicolas Roeg's 1985 film Insignificance. The film includes a scene in which the genius scientist, played by Michael Emil, discusses relativity with an actress, resembling Marilyn Monroe. It is a popular notion that the two celebrities secretly met.

4 Physics Couples Who Changed The World

February is popular as the month to celebrate love and affection. In the world of physics, there have been couples who not only shared their lives but also their passion for physics. They often collaborated with each other on experiment, research projects and contributed to the advancement of scientific knowledge.

Following are 4 couples, who were both physicists:

1. Marie Curie and Pierre Curie

   Marie Curie was a pioneering physicist and chemist, known for discovering Radium and Polonium. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields (Physics and Chemistry).

   Pierre Curie was a noted physicist who made significant contributions to the study of magnetism and radioactivity. He shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics with his wife, Marie Curie, and Henri Becquerel for their work on radioactivity.

src: Wikimedia commons

2. Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie

   Irène Joliot-Curie, the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, followed in her parents' footsteps and became a celebrated physicist. She won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 alongside her husband, Frédéric, for their discovery of artificial radioactivity.

   Frédéric Joliot-Curie was a physicist and chemist who, along with his wife Irène, made significant contributions to the field of nuclear physics. Their work laid the groundwork for future discoveries in nuclear energy.

src: Bibliothèque nationale de France

3. Gertrude Scharff Goldhaber and Maurice Goldhaber

   Gertrude Scharff Goldhaber made important contributions to nuclear physics, particularly in the study of beta decay and nuclear fission. She and her husband Maurice were lab partners at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

   Maurice Goldhaber was a renowned physicist known for his work in nuclear physics, including the determination that the neutrino has a left-handed helicity. He won the Fermi award for his contributions in 1998.

4. Cécile DeWitt-Morette and Bryce DeWitt

   Cécile DeWitt-Morette, a French physicist, made significant contributions to the field of quantum field theory and general relativity. She was also known for her work in mathematical physics. She wanted to become a surgeon but due to limited opportunities in France during world war 2, decided to study physics and maths.

src: Brandon dinunno, wikimedia commons

   Bryce DeWitt was a theoretical physicist who made important contributions to quantum gravity and the formulation of the Wheeler-DeWitt equation. He and Cécile collaborated on various research projects and co-authored several papers.

9 Quotes By Carl Sagan On Astronomy

Carl Sagan was an American scientist (1934-1996) who is best known for his TV show Cosmos: a personal voyage and inspiring astrophysicists like Neil deGrasse Tyson to pursue astronomy. Carl Sagan was an expert in the field of exobiology and search for extraterrestrial life.

Carl Sagan also worked with NASA on various projects including the Pioneer plaque and Voyager golden record, which were the first physical messages sent to space. Since Carl Sagan was born on November 9, celebrated as Carl Sagan day across America, following are 9 quotes on astronomy by Carl Sagan:

1. The cosmos is within us. We're made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.

2. Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.

3. For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.

4. Virtually every newspaper in America has a daily column on astrology; there are hardly any that have even a weekly column on astronomy.

5. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark.

Earth as a point of pale blue light, picture by NASA

6. I stress that the universe is made mostly of nothing, that something is the exception.

7. A tiny blue dot set in a sunbeam. Here it is. That's where we live. That's home. We humans are one species and this is our world. It is our responsibility to cherish it. Of all the worlds in our solar system, the only one so far as we know, graced by life.

8. In the long run, every planetary society will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring — not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive.

9. In the vastness of the Cosmos there must be other civilizations far older and more advanced than ours.

10 Facts About Astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar

Astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar [1910 - 1995] was a Nobel prize winning scientist from India who is best known for studying the evolution of stars. He accepted American citizenship in 1953 and taught at the University of Chicago for almost all his life.

Following are 10 amazing facts on physicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar:

1. He found the Chandrasekhar limit, currently accepted as 1.4 solar masses, which is the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf star. If a star is more massive than this limit, it might end up as a black hole.

2. Chandrasekhar was tutored at home until the age of 12. In middle school, his father taught him mathematics and physics while his mother taught him Tamil and English.

3. Chandrasekhar studied at Presidency College in Chennai and the University of Cambridge. He was a long-time professor at the University of Chicago and editor of The astrophysical journal.

4. His paternal uncle was the Indian physicist and Nobel laureate C.V. Raman, who was the first Indian to win the coveted Nobel prize for discovery of Raman effect.

5. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar himself won the Nobel prize for physics in 1983 for his mathematical treatment of stellar evolution.

6. Chandra X-ray observatory, launched in 1999, is a flagship space telescope of NASA which is named after him.

7. Chandrasekhar was in dispute with English astronomer Arthur Eddington over the final stages of a star's life. Eddington, a renowned physicist, openly mocked and criticized Chandrasekhar limit in 1935.

Chandrasekhar continued to state that he admired Eddington and considered him a friend.

8. Chandra worked closely with his students and expressed pride in the fact that over a 50-year period (from roughly 1930 to 1980), the average age of his co-author collaborators had remained the same, at around 30.

9. Two of the students who took his course at University of Chicago, Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, won the Nobel prize before he could get one for himself. Chandrasekhar supervised 45 PhD students in his teaching career.

10. After his death, his wife Lalitha made a gift of his Nobel Prize money to the University of Chicago towards the establishment of the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Memorial Fellowship.

Bonus fact - Chandrasekhar was offered double salary at Princeton University in 1946 but the University of Chicago president matched the salary to keep Chandrasekhar in Chicago.

No Contradiction Between Physics And Religion: Max Planck

Max Planck was a German theoretical physicist who is regarded as the father of quantum mechanics. Planck won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1918, for the discovery of energy quanta.

While solving for energy quantum, Max Planck stumbled upon a very small number which is the foundation of modern physics. Planck is well known for this constant which has been named in his honor, h = 6.62607015 × 10-34 m2 kg / s.

Planck came from a traditional family, a generation of theology professors in Gottingen. Plank's father broke that tradition by teaching law. Later on Planck too, as he became a professor of physics. However, while Planck was driven mainly by science, he was also religious by heart.

According to Planck, there was no contradiction between science and religion. Religion and natural science (read: physics) do not exclude each other, as many contemporaries of ours would believe or fear, Planck said. They mutually supplement and condition each other.

The following quotes are by Planck on science and religion:

1. Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.

2. Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination.

3. My research on the atom has shown me that there is no such thing as matter in itself. What we perceive as matter is merely the manifestation of a force that causes the subatomic particles to oscillate and holds them together in the tiniest solar system of the universe

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

5. Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.

5 Predictions of Nikola Tesla That Came True (And 5 That Didn't)

Nikola Tesla was a genius Serbian American inventor who laid the foundations of alternate current power system. Tesla was an advocate of modern technology and made many convincing predictions about the future. Some of Tesla's predictions were proven correct in the 21st century and some have gone wrong, as you shall see in this post.

1. (Right) Alternating current

Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission and use of alternating current electricity. Tesla believed that one day in the future the entire world would use his power system over direct current.

Thomas Edison famously tried to show with experiment that alternating current was deadly. However, Tesla overcame that fear mongering by showing that AC was safe, inexpensive and usable over large distances.

2. (Wrong) Interplanetary energy exchange

One can see that Tesla and his ideas were on another level when he said that he would be able to complete interplanetary communication. In 1931, Tesla proposed a way in the future that would allow planets to transmit energy, from one planet to another, in large amounts of horsepower - regardless of distance.

3. (Right) Smartphone

In 1908, Tesla said - An inexpensive instrument, not bigger than a watch, will enable one to call up, from one's desk, and talk to any telephone subscriber on the globe. Any picture, character, drawing, or print can be transferred from one to another place.

4. (Wrong) Unlimited free energy

Tesla envisioned a future in which humans are able to harness the energy of ionosphere and distribute it wirelessly to anyone anywhere on the planet. This concept, while inspiring, has not been realized because of practical reasons.

5. (Right) Thought images, MRI

Tesla: I expect to photograph thoughts. In 1893, while engaged in certain investigations, I became convinced that a definite image formed in thought must produce a corresponding image on the retina, which might be read by a suitable apparatus.

The closest machine able to do as Tesla suggested is MRI scan. An fMRI scan can tell you something about what a person is thinking. Tesla predicted - "Our minds would then, indeed, be like open books."

6. (Wrong) Wireless electricity

One notable incorrect prediction of Nikola Tesla is transmission of wireless electricity through the air. There would be no need for wires in the future for long distance transfer using his Wardenclyffe tower. This idea of Tesla was impractical on many levels and was not realized on large scale.

7. (Right) Wi-fi

While wireless electricity did not succeed, wireless transfer of files - documents, photos, music, video worked. His prediction of the internet came true in the 1980s and wireless file transfer in the 1990s.

8. (Wrong) Anti gravity tech

Tesla predicted an anti-gravity technology which would allow levitation in day to day life. Despite ongoing research in this field, anti gravity remains impractical and still quite far from reality.

9. (Right) Robotics and automation

Tesla predicted that robots will replace humans in many fields. He predicted driverless cars. He predicted robots would do menial labor like lifting and loading. Today, not only this, but automation via artificial intelligence is putting human creativity at risk, as they create art and music.

10. (Wrong) Weather control

While modern science has explored temporary weather modification techniques like cloud seeding, a complete control of weather and climate as Tesla had envisioned has not come to fruition.

Paul Dirac versus Richard Feynman

Feynman and Dirac, two great physicists who made invaluable contribution to quantum mechanics and Nobel prize winners, were poles apart.

While Richard Feynman idolized Paul Dirac, they disagreed on many things. One remembers Dirac as an extremely shy person, who hesitated to speak. Feynman, on the contrary, was a chatty man whose anecdotes spread contagious laughter.

Dirac won the Nobel prize for correctly predicting the existence of anti-matter. Three decades later, Feynman won the coveted prize for his work with elementary particles.

Both physicists had a very distinct view of science. Dirac was inclined towards mathematics and considered beauty in one's equations to be important. While Feynman preferred the equation to stand the test of experiment.

Feynman said - Physics is not mathematics. Mathematics is not physics. One helps the other.

Dirac was of the view - It is more important to have beauty in one's equations than to have them fit experiment.

You can say that in this regard Feynman and Dirac were rivals as they say "Raibaru" in Japanese. They did not seem to agree on this one thing.

Yet, as a young man Feynman idolized Dirac. He said - 

Dirac made a breakthrough, a new method of doing physics. He had the courage to simply guess at the form of an equation, and to try to interpret it afterwards.

This equation is now called Dirac equation. It is a beautiful, small equation that predicts counterpart of matter, anti-matter. In 1932, Paul Dirac was recognized by Nobel prize in physics for his work.

Later on, Feynman's views changed.

Being a mathematical physicist, Dirac was of the view that if an equation has beauty, then one must be working correctly, on the right path. Feynman disagreed that beauty is paramount, but he still remained a Dirac fanboy.

Feynman's evolved thought was

No matter how beautiful an equation is, no matter who made the equation or how genius he was, if it disagrees with experiment, it is wrong!

In 1962, the two great minds Feynman and Dirac met at a science conference.

Feynman a chatty fellow talked at length while a meek old man Dirac listened quietly. In the end, Dirac blurted out a question - I have an equation. Do you have one too?

Earlier in 1948, Feynman had invented a diagram to pictorially represent the interaction of subatomic particles. For this simplification work, Feynman won the Nobel prize in 1965. It is then interesting to note that both scientists won the Nobel prize in physics for proposing a simple solution.

One key takeaway from this story is that it takes courage to challenge your idol. Feynman admired Dirac all his life, but it was not wrong for him to disagree with his hero once in a while. Isn't that how science progresses? When great minds collide?

10 Motivational Quotes By Albert Einstein

Everyone would agree that Albert Einstein was the greatest physicist of all time. Einstein won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect thereby paving a way for quantum mechanics to bloom, but he is most well know for equation E = m c^2.

More than that, Einstein developed a new theory of universal gravitation, an improvement over Newton's version, in which Einstein imagined a curving space and time resulting in a force we call gravity. Einstein spent his last years to find the ultimate theory of the universe.

Today, Albert Einstein is remembered not only as a great scientist, but also as a wise man, who inspired students with his witty remarks. Einstein was featured in the movie Oppenheimer, giving advice to physicist Robert Oppenheimer.

Following are ten quotes by Einstein to help students succeed in academics and in life:

1. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.

2. Never memorize something that you can look up.

3. Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.

4. Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.

5. The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.

6. I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence.

7. The measure of intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.

8. What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right.

9. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

10. I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.

Feynman's Letter To Deceased Wife Breaks Stereotype

It is said that men cannot express themselves well enough. Building upon this notion, often times TV shows tend to portray that male scientists [or as they say geeks] cannot convey feelings of love and usually get awkward in social situations.

However, there was one outspoken physicist by the name Richard Feynman who not only broke this stereotype but went beyond. Feynman was a great teacher, artist and lover.

Feynman's love for his wife knew no bounds. He wrote about it in a book titled What do you care what other people think? [a phrase his wife Arline taught him]. The book was later on adapted into a movie starring Matthew Broderick as Richard Feynman and Patricia Arquette as Arline Greenbaum in 1996.

Arline was struck by tuberculosis and was bed ridden for the latter part of her short lived life. Feynman used to commute from work to the hospital every day, a place which became their home in the last few years. He brought her presents and flowers and promised to stay by her side until her last breath. Feynman stood by his word.

When Arline passed away, every other thing reminded Feynman of the time he had spent with her. A cute dress by the window of a shop brought tears to his eyes, as Feynman imagined how his departed wife Arline would look in it.

Following is a letter that Feynman wrote 16 months after Arline had passed away. He just could not get over her for a really long time as this letter shows...

October 17, 1946

D’Arline,

I adore you, sweetheart.

I know how much you like to hear that — but I don’t only write it because you like it — I write it because it makes me warm all over inside to write it to you.

It is such a terribly long time since I last wrote to you — almost two years but I know you’ll excuse me because you understand how I am, stubborn and realistic; and I thought there was no sense to writing.

But now I know my darling wife that it is right to do what I have delayed in doing, and that I have done so much in the past. I want to tell you I love you. I want to love you. I always will love you.

I find it hard to understand in my mind what it means to love you after you are dead — but I still want to comfort and take care of you — and I want you to love me and care for me. I want to have problems to discuss with you — I want to do little projects with you. I never thought until just now that we can do that. What should we do. We started to learn to make clothes together — or learn Chinese — or getting a movie projector. Can’t I do something now? No. I am alone without you and you were the “idea-woman” and general instigator of all our wild adventures.

 

When you were sick you worried because you could not give me something that you wanted to and thought I needed. You needn’t have worried. Just as I told you then there was no real need because I loved you in so many ways so much. And now it is clearly even more true — you can give me nothing now yet I love you so that you stand in my way of loving anyone else — but I want you to stand there. You, dead, are so much better than anyone else alive.

I know you will assure me that I am foolish and that you want me to have full happiness and don’t want to be in my way. I’ll bet you are surprised that I don’t even have a girlfriend (except you, sweetheart) after two years. But you can’t help it, darling, nor can I — I don’t understand it, for I have met many girls and very nice ones and I don’t want to remain alone — but in two or three meetings they all seem ashes. You only are left to me. You are real.

My darling wife, I do adore you.

I love my wife. My wife is dead.

Rich.

PS Please excuse my not mailing this — but I don’t know your new address.

 

5 Quotes By James Maxwell To Inspire Students

James Clerk Maxwell [1831-1879] was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who is best known for equations which unified electricity, magnetism and light into one coherent subject of electromagnetism. As a result of his work, Maxwell is considered one of the greatest physicists of all time.

Maxwell lived a short but a truly fulfilling academic life, regarded on par with Newton and Einstein. He is also known as the founder of the modern field of electrical engineering. Maxwell died of stomach cancer but inspired many, including Tesla, with his words.

Following are five motivational quotes by James Maxwell:

1. The world may be utterly crazy, and life may be labour in vain; But I'd rather be silly than lazy, and would not quit life for its pain.

2. It is of great advantage to the student of any subject to read the original memoirs on that subject, when we take some interest in the great discoverers and their lives that science becomes endurable, and only when we begin to trace the development of ideas.

3. In every branch of knowledge the progress is proportional to the amount of facts on which to build, and therefore to the facility of obtaining data.

4. The equations at which we arrive must be such that a person of any nation, by substituting the numerical values of the quantities as measured by his own national units, would obtain a true result.

5. Every man has been given a progressively increasing power of communication with other creatures.  Happiness is indissolubly connected with the full exercise of these powers in their intended direction.

James Clerk Maxwell died early, but he was able to capture the attention of scientific community with his work for a long time. He was inspired by Faraday and went on to inspire the likes of Einstein and Tesla.