Robert Oppenheimer

1904–1967 · American theoretical physicist

Topics: science, creativity, life

• To try to be happy is to try to build a machine with no other specification than that it shall run noiselessly.

  — Robert Oppenheimer

• The history of science is rich in the example of the fruitfulness of bringing two sets of techniques, two sets of ideas, developed in separate contexts for the pursuit of new truth, into touch with one another.

  — Robert Oppenheimer

• Science is not everything, but science is very beautiful.

  — Robert Oppenheimer

• There are no secrets about the world of nature. There are secrets about the thoughts and intentions of men.

  — Robert Oppenheimer

• There must be no barriers to freedom of inquiry … There is no place for dogma in science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion, to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors.

  — Robert Oppenheimer