Words of wisdom from some of the most brilliant people of science and philosophy that ever lived.
A collection of quotes from our Hall of Fame people and others from antiquity through modern times. The ECG found these quotes inspiring enough to help us all pause momentarily and look deeper at our earthly world and our place in the universe.
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“Do not be afraid of being free thinkers. If you think strongly enough you will be forced by science to the belief in God” -Lord Kelvin
Lord Kelvin, born William Thomson, was a renowned scientist and engineer of the 19th century. He significantly contributed to various fields, including thermodynamics, electromagnetism, and mathematics. Kelvin played a crucial role in developing the first and second laws of thermodynamics, which laid the foundation for modern physics and engineering.
One of Kelvin’s most famous achievements was formulating the Kelvin scale of temperature. This absolute temperature scale revolutionized the way scientists measured heat and energy. His work in thermodynamics also led to the concept of entropy, which is fundamental to our understanding of the universe’s behavior.
In addition to his scientific contributions, Kelvin was a prominent figure in academia and industry. He served as the president of the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh and as a professor at the University of Glasgow. Kelvin’s expertise in engineering was instrumental in laying the first successful transatlantic telegraph cable connecting Europe and North America.
Kelvin’s legacy continues to influence modern science and technology. His ideas have shaped our understanding of the physical world and paved the way for countless innovations.
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George Lemaître
The Priest who proposed the now famous Big Bang Theory
“Should a priest reject relativity because it contains no authoritative exposition on the doctrine of the Trinity? Once you realize that the Bible does not purport to be a textbook of science, the old controversy between religion and science vanishes . . . The doctrine of the Trinity is much more abstruse than anything in relativity or quantum mechanics; but, being necessary for salvation, the doctrine is stated in the Bible. If the theory of relativity had also been necessary for salvation, it would have been revealed to Saint Paul or to Moses.” – George Lemaître
Lemaître was born in 1894 in Charleroi, Belgium. As a young man he was attracted to both science and theology, but World War I interrupted his studies (he served as an artillery officer and witnessed the first poison gas attack in history). After the war, Lemaître studied theoretical physics, and in 1923 was ordained as an abbé. The following year, he pursued his scientific studies with the distinguished English astronomer Arthur Eddington, who regarded him as “a very brilliant student, wonderfully quick and clear-sighted, and of great mathematical ability.” Lemaître then went on to America, where he visited most of the major centers of astronomical research. Later, he received his Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Mary Somerville – Queen of Science
“It is unjust that women should have been given a desire for knowledge if it were wrong to acquire it.” – Mary Somerville
Mary Somerville was a prominent figure in nineteenth-century science. She was a Scottish woman who defied societal norms to become a renowned mathematician, astronomer, and science writer. Her contributions to mathematics, particularly in algebra and physical astronomy, where she made significant advancements in celestial mechanics, were not just groundbreaking. Still, they also significantly impacted and reshaped the scientific community of her time.
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“Come celebrate with me in song the name
Of Newton, to the Muses dear, for he
Unlocked the hidden treasures of truth …
Nearer the gods no mortal may approach”.
Edmond Halley
Edmond Halley, born in London in 1656, was a brilliant astronomer and mathematician. His early interest in mathematics and astronomy led him to make several groundbreaking discoveries. For instance, he was the first to suggest that the bright star we see in the night sky is not a single star, but a binary star system. This discovery revolutionized our understanding of the universe and laid the foundation for modern binary star research.
Halley’s most renowned feat was his prediction of the return of a comet, now known as Halley’s Comet. This was a significant achievement as it was the first time a comet’s return was accurately predicted. Through meticulous study of historical records and the application of his mathematical prowess, Halley accurately foretold the comet’s return in 1758. This not only cemented his status as a skilled scientist but also showcased the power of mathematics in predicting celestial events, a concept that was revolutionary at the time.
Colleagues and Contemporaries. http://eulerarchive.maa.org/historica/people.html
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“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”
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Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist. Her sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) not only advanced marine conservation but also sparked a global environmental movement, leaving an indelible mark on the world.
Carson’s career took a fascinating turn when she transitioned from being an aquatic biologist in the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries to a full-time nature writer in the 1950s. Her 1951 bestseller The Sea Around Us , widely praised and a recipient of the U.S. National Book Award, marked the beginning of her journey as a gifted writer and provided her with financial security. This success led to the republication of her first book, Under the Sea Wind (1941), in 1952, and was followed by The Edge of the Sea in 1955 — both were also bestsellers. This sea trilogy delves into the vastness of ocean life from the shores to the depths, showcasing Carson’s versatility and passion. (Taken from Wikipedia)
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“Whomever or whatever the visitors are, their activities go far beyond a mere study of mankind. They are involved with us on very deep levels, playing in the band of dream, weaving imagination & reality together until they begin to seem what they probably are – different aspects of a single continuum. To really begin to perceive the visitors adequately it is going to be necessary to invent a new discipline of vision, one that combines the mystic’s freedom of imagination with the substantial intellectual rigor of the scientist.”
Whitley Strieber, Communion: A True Story
Louis Whitley Strieber, born June 13, 1945, is an American writer best known for his horror novels The Wolfen and The Hunger and for Communion, a non-fiction account of his alleged experiences with non-human entities. He has maintained a dual career as an author of fiction and advocate of paranormal concepts through his best-selling non-fiction books, Unknown Country website, and podcast Dreamland. (Wikipedia – Whitley Strieber)
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“In our time this search for extraterrestrial life will eventually change our laws, our religions, our philosophies, our arts, our recreations, as well as our sciences. Space, the mirror, waits for life to come look for itself there.”
-Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury was an American author and screenwriter. Bradbury is best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953). His short-story collections The Martian Chronicles (1950), The Illustrated Man (1951), The Veldt, and The October Country (1955). Other notable works include the coming-of-age novel Dandelion Wine (1957), the dark fantasy Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962), and the fictionalized memoir Green Shadows, White Whale (1992). He also wrote and consulted on screenplays and television scripts, including Moby Dick and It Came from Outer Space. His works were adapted into television and film productions and comic books. Bradbury also wrote poetry, published in several collections, such as They Have Not Seen the Stars (2001).
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“I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable.” -Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages extraordinaires, a series of bestselling adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). His novels, always well documented, are generally set in the second half of the 19th century, taking into account the technological advances of the time.
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“Quantum computation is… a distinctively new way of harnessing nature… It will be the first technology that allows useful tasks to be performed in collaboration between parallel universes.”
David Deutsch: Born 18 May 1953
Deutsch is a British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a visiting professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford. He pioneered the field of quantum computation by formulating a description for a quantum Turing machine. He also developed an algorithm designed to run on a quantum computer. He has also proposed the use of entangled states and Bell’s theorem for quantum key distribution. He is a proponent of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
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“There’s no obvious reason to assume that the very same rare properties that allow for our 
existence would also provide the best overall setting to make discoveries about the world around us. We don’t think this is merely coincidental. It cries out for another explanation, an explanation that… points to purpose and intelligent design in the cosmos.”
The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery
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“In science, it often happens that scientists say, ‘You know, that’s a really good argument; my position is mistaken,’ and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn’t happen as often as it should, because scientists are human, and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.”
(1987) Carl Sagan
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Stephen Hawking: April 16, 2013, during a lecture entitled
Stephen William Hawking (8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who, at the time of his death, was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.
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“Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we devised 
artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment, we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away.”
Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space
Carl Edward Sagan (November 9, 1934 – December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, science communicator, author, and professor. His best-known scientific contribution is his research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, including experimental demonstration of the production of amino acids from basic chemicals by radiation.
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“I esteem myself happy to have as great an ally as you in my search for truth. I will read your work … all the more willingly because I have for many years been a partisan of the Copernican view because it reveals to me the causes of many natural phenomena that are entirely incomprehensible in the light of the generally accepted hypothesis. To refute the latter, I have collected many proofs, but I do not publish them, because I am deterred by the fate of our teacher Copernicus who, although he had won immortal fame with a few, was ridiculed and condemned by countless people (for very great is the number of the stupid).”
Galileo Galilei, Frammenti e lettere {Letter to fellow revolutionary astronomer Johannes Kepler}”
Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de’ Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), simply Galileo. He was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. He was born in the city of Pisa, then part of the Duchy of Florence. Galileo has been called the father of observational astronomy, modern-era classical physics, the scientific method, and modern science. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
“The time will come when diligent research over long periods will bring to light things which now lie hidden. A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the investigation of so vast a subject… And so this knowledge will be unfolded only through long successive ages. There will come a time when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them… Many discoveries are reserved for ages still to come, when memory of us will have been effaced.”
Natural Questions
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger usually known as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome (4 BC – 65 AD)
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“We are part of this universe; we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both of those facts, is that the universe is in us.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson (born October 5, 1958), American astronomer who popularized science with his books and frequent appearances on radio and television.
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“To rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force.” Hypatia (355 CE— March 415, Alexandria). 
Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a very turbulent era in Alexandria’s history.
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“The strongest affection and utmost zeal should, I think, promote the studies concerned with the most beautiful objects. This is the discipline that deals with the universe’s divine revolutions, the stars’ motions, sizes, distances, risings and settings . . . for what is more beautiful than heaven?”
Nicolaus Copernicus (February 1473 – May 1543) Mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulated a model of the universe that placed the Sun rather than Earth at its center. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………