Edward Teller

1908–2003 · Hungarian-American Jewish nuclear physicist

Topics: learning, simplicity, software engineering, open source

• Today's science is tomorrow's technology.

  — Edward Teller

• By having simplified what is known, physicists have been led into realms which as yet are anything but simple. That at some time, they, too, will appear as simple consequences of a theory of which no one has yet dreamed is not a statement of fact. It is a statement of faith.

  — Edward Teller

• Secrecy in science does not work. Withholding information does more damage to us than to our competitors.

  — Edward Teller

• A fact is a simple statement that everyone believes. It is innocent, unless found guilty. A hypothesis is a novel suggestion that no one wants to believe. It is guilty, until found effective.

  — Edward Teller

• We must learn to live with contradictions, because they lead to deeper and more effective understanding.

  — Edward Teller

• There's no system foolproof enough to defeat a sufficiently great fool.

  — Edward Teller

• There is no case where ignorance should be preferred to knowledge — especially if the knowledge is terrible.

  — Edward Teller

• Physics is, hopefully, simple. Physicists are not.

  — Edward Teller

• Two paradoxes are better than one; they may even suggest a solution.

  — Edward Teller