Whenever I came to him (Fritz Sauter) with a pure physics idea, he would invariably say, with slight sarcasm: "But Mr. Kroemer, you ought to be able to formulate this mathematically! " If I came to him with a math formulation, I would get, in a similar tone: "But Mr. Kroemer, that is just math, what is the physics?" After a few encounters of this kind, you got the idea: You had to be able to go back and forth with ease. Yet, in the last analysis, concepts took priority over formalism, the latter was simply an (indispensable) means to an end.


in his Autobiography, Herbert Kroemer, The Nobel Prize in Physics 2000

Nobel Prize Herbert Kroemer - Biographical

Herbert Kroemer Quotes

Whenever I came to him (Fritz Sauter) with a pure physics idea, he would invariably say, with slight sarcasm: But Mr. Kroemer, you ought to be able...

Whenever I came to him (Fritz Sauter) with a pure physics idea, he would invariably say, with slight sarcasm: But Mr. Kroemer, you ought to be able...

Whenever I came to him (Fritz Sauter) with a pure physics idea, he would invariably say, with slight sarcasm: But Mr. Kroemer, you ought to be able...

Whenever I came to him (Fritz Sauter) with a pure physics idea, he would invariably say, with slight sarcasm: But Mr. Kroemer, you ought to be able...