Today, nothing is unusual about a scientific discovery's being followed soon after by a technical application: The discovery of electrons led to electronics; fission led to nuclear energy. But before the 1880's, science played almost no role in the advances of technology. For example, James Watt developed the first efficient steam engine long before science established the equivalence between mechanical heat and energy.

Physics without mathematics is meaningless.

In our educational institutions applied science may almost be described as a "no-man's land."

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

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy; the best weapon of a democracy is openness.

[Chemistry] laboratory work was my first challenge. ... I still carry the scars of my first discovery-that test-tubes are fragile.

When Columbus took off, the purpose was to improve trade relations with China. That problem has not been solved to this very day, but just look at the by-products.