Kurt Gottfried Quotes

3 Sourced Quotes

By taking issue with Bell on this score, I am not saying that I am satisfied with my understanding of quantum mechanics. I share Feynman's belief that no one really understands quantum mechanics. But we should not exaggerate our embarrassment; it is ample as it stands. In any event, I agree with Bell that the foundations continue to merit the closest scrutiny.

Kurt Gottfried

I, for one, remain unpersuaded that a crisis of major proportions has been identified, but at the same time I am open to the possibility that such a crisis has been glimpsed, though perhaps only subliminally, by Bell and his great predecessors: Einstein, Schrodinger, de Broglie, Bohm and Wigner. This is a roster which should give us all pause. To my understanding, however, this crisis has not yet been formulated with sufficient precision to facilitate the birth of a great offspring.

Kurt Gottfried

On further reflection, I now think that in arguing his case Bell exaggerated, oversimplified the historical development of both classical electrodynamics and quantum mechanics, and as a result arrived at a definition of "understanding" that may be too rigid in that it reflects a presumption - a prejudice, if you will - as to what constitutes physical reality.

Kurt Gottfried

Kurt Gottfried

Kurt Gottfried

Born: 1929

Died: August 25, 2022 (aged 93)

Bio: Kurt Gottfried was professor emeritus of physics at Cornell University and chairman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He was also co-editor of Crisis Stability And Nuclear War.

Kurt Gottfried on Wikipedia

Suggest an edit or a new quote

American Physicist Quotes

Physicist Quotes

20th-century Physicist Quotes