Leon M. Lederman - Quotes
| The Directors > Robert R. Wilson | Leon M. Lederman | John Peoples | Michael S. Witherell |
The words of Leon M. Lederman
On Appreciation:
"I got an excellent free education in New York's public schools -- they were
good then (1928-39). Then I got a free college education at CCNY. I went to
graduate school under the GI Bill. Then when I got my degree, I was handed t:he
finest equipment to do the work I most wanted to do. And now they are giving me a medal. [1965 National Medal of Science] That's really pretty funny."
New York Post, 2/10/66
On winning the Nobel Prize:
"The telephone rang! And I thought, that's probably the Nobel Prize committee
calling."
St. Charles Chronicle, 10/21/88
"To me, the most encouraging aspect of an award such as this is that, hopefully,
young people will hear about this and be inspired to carry on this most basic
type of research. Those are the people who will figure out how to use these
tools to solve the problems society faces ... neutrinos are part of the fund of
basic knowledge we need to help us cope with, and improve, our future. The SSC
is part of a basic-research continuum that stretches back to Galileo and forward
through Faraday's experiments with electricity and, in this case, the machine at
Brookhaven where we discovered the neutrino. The SSC and the Tevatron are
examples of tools which will improve our fundamental knowledge. They and many
other scientific tools are needed so as to encourage the young aspirants to
science to pitch in and help to advance science across the entire frontier."
FNAL press release, 10/19/88
And on his plans for his winnings:
"I haven't decided whether to buy a castle in Spain or a string of racehorses."
NYT, 10/20/88
On new ideas and higher energy:
"Since new ideas are always inimical to large projects, we should either decide
never to build anything, or to build everything or to suppress all new ideas.
This note is not to recommend any of these approaches at this time but to point
out that the AGS modification can be used in a relatively simple way (I think)
to enable the observation of interactions ... corresponding to a laboratory
bombarding energy of 110 BeV. This would involve construction of a 1 BeV
storage ring intersecting with the modified AGS .... This type of ring seems very
simple to build ... Except for the tricky intersection region, this looks simpler.
The system has growth possibilities .... The main point now is to make sure the
linac injector is of high enough energy and intensity to serve this purpose."
Memo to BNL Big Shots, 3/18/64
On art and physics:
"Physics is the science of observation, and probably no art is closer to the
metier of the practitioner than is photography. How parallel are the tasks!
Blend respect for meticulous technique with inspiration in order to expose a
small piece of the world. Explain through the eye and the mind how a thing
subtle but of great wonder can be revealed ... It all amounts to a glimpse of the
world which is on the one hand abstract, ethereal and evocative of varieties of
esthetic reactions. On the other hand there is for us physicists the faith in an
underlying rationale of crystalline precision ... By this reminder of the
essential unity of our fascinations, we may even do better science."
Nojima Yasuzo Exhibit Program, Fermilab Art Gallery, 8-9/79
On culture:
"Why should we have a history of accelerators project? Because it is our
culture!"
Warrenville Astronomical Society Dinner Party, 1989
On basic research and economic development:
"Basic research is designed to increase our understanding of the nature of the
universe in which we live. It is curiosity-driven, unmotivated by thought of
usefulness and hence almost by definition, it is not aimed at economic
development. The consequences of basic research are characterized by
unpredictability. Research is a venture, literally, into the unknown. Scientists
take up basic research out of a sense of pure excitement, out of joy at
enhancing human culture, out of awe at the heritage handed down by generations
of masters and, ... out of a need to publish and become famous .... The bridge
between basic research and economic development is called Technology: i.e. the
process of finding ways of doing things which do impact directly on society ... It
is a signature of the times that these three activities, basic research,
technology and economic development are intertwined together, advancing in an
ever-increasing spiral. The understanding of these connections is a major task
for government, industry, university scholars and citizens whose lives are
affected. Here we need all the hope we can get because this combination has
indeed changed our lives, continues to change our lives and the prognosis is for
an ever-increasing rate of change .... Basic scientific research is an investment
which society makes in its culture and in its comfort, i.e. its expectation of
economic returns. So far, science has more than fulfilled these expectations.
But science is not a consumption good to be expanded in good times and
restricted in bad times. The doing of science as well as the supporting of
science is an expression of faith in the future. It would have been possible to
have told Newton and Faraday, Maxwell and Einstein, Bohr and Heisenberg that,
given the poverty and squalor around them, their research were luxuries which
could not be afforded. To have done so would be to destroy the economic c progress
that came out of their science and which was the main factor in relieving that
poverty and squalor. We seem to be on the verge of saving one percent but
sacrificing untold scientific discoveries and their unpredictable economic
benefits."
"Basic Research and Economic Development," Governor's Conference on Science and Technology in Illinois, 9/4/86
On the impact of new applications of computers:
"I will talk about the increasing complexity of nonbubble chamber experiments
... This complexity is made necessary by the very esoteric and fleeting objects
whose properties one is trying to delineate. There is no other way of learning
these things. These large complexes are made possible not only by the invention
of such devices as spark chambers, but by the widespread introduction of solid
state components ... permitting the assembly of large analyzer systems of
unprecedented reliability. Probably the most dramatic consequence of this is
the application of digital computers as prime experimental tools. The power of
computing machines in data analysis is an old story dating back to 1960 or so
... In the old-fashioned days of last year the [spark chambers, magnets and]
counters would provide ... the information that yes, perhaps something nice is
happening in the spark chambers ... Today, and more often tomorrow, the
scintillation logic is processed directly by a computing machine, on-line with
the experiment ... Thus, the growing awareness of computer capabilities is shaping
the development of the nonbubble chamber particle detectors. There is an
economic rationale: as the complexity and sophistication of the experiments
increase, the cost of a general purpose computer, often used only part time on
any given experiment, often competes with the cost of the special purpose
circuitry required ... The time spent by my generation in learning arts and skills
of plumbing and electronics will in part give way to acquiring greater
familiarity with the programming and computer science. There will be problems.
The demand for off-line computing is increasing exponentially. This development
will not help. Then too, for university professors, there must be a concern for
the training of graduate students in the circumstances of so much automation ...
A major part of the creative activity in the experimental science has been
traditionally devoted to arts and recipes of gadgetry. We have a responsibility
to make sure that this goes on if we are to hope for new devices and new
breakthroughs. But I believe opportunities will always persist .... Another
comment involves the educational benefits of this activity. There are several
troubles: one is the fact that the student now buys, or has bought for him, much
of the equipment he uses and the other is the fact that he is forced by the
nature of this research to work in large groups. However, I don't know of any
educational experience more exciting and more profound than those students who
happen to participate in an experiment that hits or finds something really new
at the frontier. I clearly believe the problems raised by the new trend will be
manageable but much thought must be given to them .... Young students take to
programminq very, very quickly. The older professors have the hard time. They
have to work at it. IBM at Columbia gives a course called the Fool-proof 3-day
Course in Computing, and I failed. (To which Chairman Holifield replied: "Maybe
you needed an extra day.")
Testimony in Hearings before the Subcommittee on
Research, Development and Radiation of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy,
2-5 March 1965
On change:
"Why is scientific literacy important? ... Science begets technology ... Technology
begets more science ... More science begets more technology ... The name of the game
is CHANGE."
"Sermon for Science Teachers," The Physics Teacher, September 1986
On choice:
"Time and time again we have been shown that this nation can afford anything it
really wants to do. As a simple country physicist, I maintain that a doubling
of the research budget and the education initiative at the level of adding $10
billion to $20 billion out of a federal budget of $1.5 trillion or a GNP of $6
trillion is not a matter of funding, it is simply a matter of choice."
1992 AAAS Presidential Address, 2/9/92
On the importance of the search:
''Some of my colleagues believe that the human search for the structure of the
universe -- how it came to be and hence how we came to be -- is more important
than finding the answer because the search motivates the creative power of the
human imagination. Isn't this just what you, the Master Teachers of America, try
to do in your day-to-day dealings with your young students?"
"Sermon for Science
Teachers," The Physics Teacher, September 1986
On after-dinner speeches:
"When asked to be the after dinner speaker I asked, 'Why do you want to spoil
the dinner?' ... I did a small computer calculation and discovered that at this
moment there are 972 after dinner speakers on their feet talking! That's only
in the US ... Somewhere in this great land, where banquet speeches echo from sea
to shining sea, there are educators who stand in this place. These fellows have
chutzpah ... they blithely assert that all the problems ... can be solved if only
we'd do a better job in education. Some banquet speaker is sure to point out
that we ... [are] the world's leading debtor nation! Can we continue to be a
world leader, leading all those nations to whom we are in hock for by what is
estimated to be $500 billion? Of course the Japanese are the leading culprits.
Just think - if they had won the war, we'd all be forced to drive Toyotas and
watch TV on Sonys!!!"
"Science, Culture and the American Dream," Chicago High
Technology Association, 10/14/87
On Enrico Fermi, particle physics, cosmology, and the Supercollider:
"The SuperCollider, that we hope will be complete in 1996 or so ... is designed
to overcome the most baffling obstacles to progress in the combined fields of
particle physics and cosmology .... Enrico Fermi, much beloved in this
neighborhood, described the practitioners of this field as high priests -- and
today the high priests must descend from the temple, they must immerse
themselves in this very imperfect world. The bloody SSC costs $4 billion so wo
have to get involved in the federal budget deficit and the balance of trade and
the transcendental goodness of Mikhail Gorbachev, not to mention the chairmen of
relevant Appropriation Committees.''
"Science, Culture and the American Dream," Chicago High Technology Association, 10/14/87
On the future:
" ... in a civilized society, the future should be an ally-- it should hold forth
the promise of longevity, freedom from disease, enriching leisure, dignity and
fulfillment: The American Dream! ... science and technology with wisdom can bring
these things to be, can serve to brighten the future and it isn't that
expensive, not $1 billion a day, at least as now perceived, but a few billion a
year."
"Science, Culture and the American Dream," Chicago High Technology
Association, 10/14/87
On science and education funding:
"Might we not have $1 billion a day? What would this do for us? The mind
boggles! ... A truly educated citizenry would enjoy fruitful leisure and
participate in the choices the nation makes in determining the shape of its
future. And in the sense of a quiet Japanese garden, the commitment to our
ancient cultural heritage of striving to understand how and why? Why us? may
perhaps lead to a recognition of the deeper meaning of our existence."
"Science, Culture and the American Dream," Chicago High Technology Association, 10/14/87
On Reflecting on the 15 Foot Bubble Chamber at Fermilab with the Russians:
"And then the Russians. We always worked with the Russians on the 15 Foot Bubble Chamber. I like that idea of the very tentative allocation: 'I had 500,000 pictures in mind.' I have in mind a doubling of all salaries at Fermilab. With the Russians and physics everything is different now because they have Gorbachev and glasnost and this has spread not only in Russia but in Poland. In Poland they had a full page ad in the newspaper which said, 'Put your money in a bank and we will give you interest.' That's a new idea, that's really not socialism at all, it smacks of the other stuff. So this peasant walked into the bank and wanted to talk to the bank manager and he said, 'I give you hundred zlotys and you give me interest, yes? How do I know it's safe?' Then the bank manager says, 'Oh, it's safe, you know we are good bank, see the big walls, marble on the floor, big desks.' 'Yea, but suppose bank go broke.' 'Oh, can't go broke,' the manager says, 'we have insurance.' 'What's insurance?' So, he explains about insurance and he says, 'Yeah, suppose insurance company go broke?' 'Oh, insurance company can't go broke, it's backed by the City of Warsaw.' 'The City of Warsaw? Suppose City of Warsaw go (he looks in his phrase book) belly up?' And the manager says, 'Can't do that, that's backed by the Polish Government.' So he says, 'Polish government huh? Well, suppose Polish Government got no more money.' 'Well, in that case comrade,' he says, 'we are supported by our colleagues in the Soviet Union.' 'Ah, the Soviet Union. Suppose they go broke?' And the manager says 'Comrade, isn't that worth a hundred zlotys?'"
"Reflections on the Fifteen Foot Bubble Chamber at Fermilab," Mark W. Bodnarczuk, ed., 4/8/1988
On style of delivering lectures:
"I tells them what I'm gonna talk about, then I tells them about it, then I
tells them what I told them."
On dedications:
"It may not seem entirely believable but I come before you as one who has never
before been involved in dedicating a 400 Billion Volt Accelerator. Until the
telephone call which commanded me here, I had not even known that the protons we
had been studying were coming from an undedicated accelerator. Recovering from
that shock, I faced an even more disturbing problem: How does one dedicate?
Suppose it fails, the dedication does not work? All this effort .... This is, insofar as I was able to learn, unprecedented. I am a (more or less) active
User, a customer of this Laboratory .... Users should not be called upon for
these things. Dedicators, I thought, were ... older persons, or statesmen, or
philosophers, or skilled administrators."
Dedication Address, Fermilab, 5/11/74
On outreach:
"Fermilab's mission is to conduct research at the frontier of knowledge and this
work is generously supported by the Federal government through the Department of
Energy. We have found it fruitful, from the inception of this laboratory, to pay
attention to the world outside; to provide graceful structures and to act in
harmony with Nature which we strive so hard to understand. In contrast to the
abstract and exotic fascination with the subnuclear and the cosmological, we
find it important to attend to the broader issues of science in our society.
These outreach activities require separate support and prodigious labors of
muscle and imagination. To this end, Friends of Fermilab came into being. We ...
take some joy in describing how these [pre-college education] activities have
been spreading to other national laboratories and to universities .... Fermilab's
educational programs, outside of the care and stimulation of our own staff,
started in 1980 with Saturday Morning Physics, a fun-filled set of lectures and
tours .... The idea really is to keep the spark alive!"
"Outreach:
What a National Laboratory Does About Science Learning," Chicago Academy of
Sciences Symposium, Science Learning in the Informal Setting, 12-15 November
1987
On international collaboration:
"[I] propose that the world community of high energy physics bite the bullet and
organize together to bring this [5 TeV on 5 TeV] machine to realization ... It
seems obvious that international cooperation is essential for so costly an item
as the 5 TeV - nor would the most sanguine nationalist like to see two such
objects built in competition however friendly."
"New Orleans -- A Proposal" delivered to New Orleans International Seminar on Future Perspectives in High
Energy Physics, 4-7 March 1975, Preliminary to ICFA
On hard work:
"Part of being a scientist is compulsive dedication, the insistence on working
without rest until you get what you're after."
NYT, 10/20/88
On teaching undergraduates:
"· .. what I really would enjoy is teaching physics to young liberal arts students
because they are skeptical. They're not a captive audience. My goal would be to
convince them that science is part of a liberal arts education."
Chicago Post,
10/25/88
On science illiteracy:
"Science illiteracy in this country is really a terrible problem. We're just not
getting the bright kids going into science in school, and our graduate science
programs have very few Americans ... If parents are uncomfortable with science,
then their children are going to be uncomfortable, too."
Chicago Tribune, 10/20/88
On unification and understanding the universe, the ultimate goal of physics:
"My goal is to someday put it all on a t-shirt ... it will have an incredible
symmetry."
Chicago Tribune, 10/20/88
On missing elementary particles:
"We believe there are six quarks, and so far we've found five of them. What's
missing is the top quark ... Bottom was found in Fermilab 10 years ago. And if
there's a bottom, there must be a top quark."
Chicago Tribune, 10/20/88
On the moment of discovery:
"It's 3 in the morning, you're all alone, ... you're looking at the data, and
suddenly you see something totally new. There are 4 billion people on this
planet, and only you know this fact. That's where the reward comes in. That's
when you get sweaty palms. This has happened to me three or four times in my
lifetime. That's way above average."
Chicago SunTimes, l0/20/88
''You suddenly realize that you and your colleagues know something that no one else does...and that it is important. You're lucky if it happens once in a
lifetime. I've been super-lucky."
New York Post, 2/10/66
"The best discoveries always seem to made in the small hours of the morning,
when most people are asleep, when there are no disturbances and the mind becomes
contemplative. You're out in a lonely portacamp somewhere, looking at the
numbers on reams of paper spewing out of a computer. You look and look, and suddenly you see some numbers that aren't like the rest--a spike in the data.
You apply some statistical tests and look for errors, but no matter what you do,
the spike's still there. It's real. You've found something. There's just no feeling like it in the world."
Discover, 10/81
On science:
"Actually, doing science is a great deal of pleasure. Science is a tremendous
career to follow. You have fun all the time, some blood, sweat and tears too,
but it is ultimately rewarding."
On longevity:
"I'm old enough to remember when the Dead Sea was still sick."
St. Charles Chronicle, 10/21/88
On balance in the school curriculum:
"If we study European history (why not give Faraday equal time with Napoleon -- he
had ultimately a far greator influence on how humans live), why not pick up
on the culture and aesthetics of scientific thought as presented by Aristotle,
Plato, or Viki Weisskopf?-- these are surely not irrelevant to literature,
arts and architecture .... "
"Challenge to the Scientific Comnunity," AAAS - Sigma
Xi Symposium on the Public Understanding of Science, 10/29/88