Gentlemen, now you will see that now you see nothing. And why you see nothing you will see presently.

A good scientific theory should be explicable to a barmaid.

All science is either physics or stamp collecting.

I must confess it was very unexpected and I am very startled at my metamorphosis into a chemist.

The great object is to find the theory of the matter [of X-rays] before anyone else, for nearly every professor in Europe is now on the warpath.

Splitting the atom is like trying to shoot a gnat in the Albert Hall at night and using ten million rounds of ammunition on the off chance of getting it. That should convince you that the atom will always be a sink of energy and never a reservoir of energy.

Now I know what the atom looks like.