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.

Physicist Who Coined Black hole & Wormhole

John Wheeler is best known as a physicist who popularized the term black hole. He was called the hero of black hole story by Stephen Hawking. Wheeler also coined the word wormhole for a hypothetical pathway connecting two remote points in space-time.

Wheeler [1911 – 2008] earned his doctorate degree when he was only 21 years old. He worked with such renowned scientists as Niels Bohr and Edward Teller. For most his life, Wheeler was a professor, his most notable student being Nobel laureate Richard Feynman.

Following are 5 brilliant quotes by John Wheeler:

1. Space tells matter how to move. Matter tells space how to curve. This is how Wheeler summarized Einstein's general relativity in one line.

2. The best way to learn something is to have to teach it. said in 1996

3. We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance. to Scientific American, 1992

4. In any field find the strangest thing and then explore it. quoted by James Gleick

5. The universe gives birth to consciousness, and consciousness gives meaning to the universe.

John Wheeler and Richard Feynman

Wheeler joined Princeton University as a professor of physics in 1938, remaining until 1976. Wheeler supervised 46 PhD students at Princeton, more than any other professor. His most notable student was Richard Feynman.

Over the course of time, Wheeler and Feynman developed a friendship and mutual admiration. Feynman referred to Wheeler as his "spiritual father," and they maintained a lifelong connection, even after Feynman moved to Caltech.

Death and legacy

On April 13, 2008, Wheeler died of pneumonia at the age of 96. He is remembered as one of the greatest American physicists of the 20th century. After his death, the University of Texas named the John Wheeler Lecture Hall in his honor.

Which Physicist Had The Highest IQ?

While the score of IQ does not determine or justify the genius of a physicist, it is still a good measure to keep. The IQ of a person is always an estimate of their intelligence, but might not be accurate.

Having said that, following are the IQ scores of renowned physicists. Who had the highest IQ and who had (surprisingly) the lowest? Let's see.

1. Albert Einstein

German physicist Albert Einstein made substantial contributions to physics and won the Nobel Prize for explaining the photoelectric effect. Einstein's IQ is said to be somewhere around 160 to 190.

2. Richard Feynman

Feynman was a charismatic physicist who is well known for playing the bongo. His work includes quantum electrodynamics, Feynman diagram and contribution to the Manhattan project. Feynman's IQ is said to be 125 and he loved joking about it.

3. Stephen Hawking

English astrophysicist Stephen Hawking is popularly known for his work in the field of big bang cosmology and black holes. Hawking's IQ is around 160.

4. Nikola Tesla

Tesla was a genius inventor who laid the foundations of alternating current technology which is used to power any modern household. Tesla's intelligence is often debated, and some claims about his IQ are exaggerated. However, the estimate is around 160 to 250.

5. Carl Sagan

American astronomer Carl Sagan is known for his popular show Cosmos: a personal voyage. He was among the first to accurately describe the atmosphere of Venus. His interest was to explore the universe for signs of extraterrestrial life. Sagan's IQ was around 150.

6. Werner Heisenberg

German physicist Heisenberg is considered the father of quantum mechanics. He is most famous for proposing the uncertainty principle, which is the cornerstone of quantum physics. Heisenberg's IQ was somewhere around 155.

7. Paul Dirac

Dirac is also considered one of the fathers of quantum mechanics. His most famous contribution is the accurate prediction of the existence of anti-matter for which he earned a Nobel prize. Dirac's IQ was higher than Einstein's, somewhere around 180-200.

8. Niels Bohr

Bohr was among the first to welcome the quantum revolution and supported the theory with all his influence. He is known for proposing the hydrogen model of atom and laying the foundations of quantum physics. Bohr's IQ was from 150 to 160.

9. Marie Curie

Madame Curie was among the brightest scientists who is the only person to win two Nobel prizes in two different sciences. Her IQ is estimated to be around 180 to 200.

10. John Wheeler

American theoretical physicist John Wheeler worked with Niels Bohr to explain nuclear fission. But he is widely known as the person who coined the term black hole. Wheeler's IQ was around 150 to 160.

10 Examples of Physics In Daily Life

Physics is not just about solving the problems and finding the right answer. From atoms to galaxies, everything is governed by physical laws. Not only is physics responsible for modern technology but also an active part of day to day life without us even realizing.

Following are ten such examples of physics in daily life:

1. In winter season, the act of rubbing your hands together to create warmth is a norm. Friction generates heat as well as responsible for static electricity. Have you heard sparkling noise while removing woollen clothes?

2. The refrigerator is made up of sheet metal so we can have thermal insulation between the strong metal and the food inside. That is why we use the surface of fridge to hold up a magnetic note or picture.

3. As we throw a basketball into the hoop or hit the soccer ball with foot, the curve traced by ball is called a parabola, and there is a certain angle at which you need to throw the projectile so it covers maximum distance. Athletes use this physics all the time.

4. Feeling the pressure change when riding in an elevator. Not only that, when you move from plains to mountains, there is also a pressure change and breathing becomes more difficult. This also happens with divers.

5. Using glasses or contact lenses to correct vision. Approximately 64% of adults use some form of vision correction, including eyeglasses, contact lenses, and/or vision correction surgery. Also, rear view mirror in vehicles is a convex mirror, bulged outward, to give a wider field of view.

6. Semiconductor physics used in electronic devices like smartphones, laptops, and TVs. When we buy a new smartphone, we tend to compare which chip the device is powered by.

7. When a baseball pitcher throws a curveball, the spin on the ball creates a pressure difference on its surface, causing it to curve due to Bernoulli's principle.

8. Ferrofluids are used in high end speakers to improve sound quality. Ferrofluids are liquids that become strongly magnetized in the presence of a magnetic field, thus dampening vibrations, and cooling the speaker coils.

8. Flicking a light switch involves a combination of mechanical and electrical processes. When the switch is flipped, it completes an electrical circuit, allowing current to flow and illuminate the light bulb.

9. The popping of popcorn kernels occurs due to the buildup of steam inside the kernel as it heats up. When the pressure inside the kernel exceeds its structural integrity, it explodes, turning inside out to form the fluffy snack we enjoy.

10. Elasticity is everywhere around us - from springs to rubber bands to bouncing a ball. Even trains are powered by thick metal springs. Springs are also used as a power source in mechanical watches.