Paul Dirac

1902–1984 · British theoretical physicist

Topics: mathematics, physics, creativity, learning

• In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in the case of poetry, it's the exact opposite!

  — Paul Dirac

• It seems to be one of the fundamental features of nature that fundamental physical laws are described in terms of a mathematical theory of great beauty and power

  — Paul Dirac

• If a picture exists, so much the better; but whether a picture exists or not is a matter of only secondary importance.

  — Paul Dirac

• It seems clear that the present quantum mechanics is not in its final form.

  — Paul Dirac

• The measure of greatness in a scientific idea is the extent to which it stimulates thought and opens up new lines of research.

  — Paul Dirac

• Just by studying mathematics we can hope to make a guess at the kind of mathematics that will come into the physics of the future.

  — Paul Dirac

• I don't suppose that applies so much to other physicists; I think it’s a peculiarity of myself that I like to play about with equations, just looking for beautiful mathematical relations which maybe don’t have any physical meaning at all. Sometimes they do.

  — Paul Dirac

• I want to emphasize the necessity for a sound mathematical basis for any fundamental physical theory. Any philosophical ideas that one may have play only a subordinate role. Unless such ideas have a mathematical basis they will be ineffective.

  — Paul Dirac

• It seems that if one is working from the point of view of getting beauty in one's equations, and if one has really a sound insight, one is on a sure line of progress.

  — Paul Dirac

• If there is no complete agreement between the results of one's work and the experiment, one should not allow oneself to be too discouraged.

  — Paul Dirac