Philip Warren Anderson Quotes

• The ability to reduce everything to simple fundamental laws does not imply the ability to start from those laws and reconstruct the universe.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Simple, Law, Doe

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• Feynman's cryptic remark, "no one is that much smarter ...," to me, implies something Feynman kept emphasizing: that the key to his achievements was not anything "magical" but the right attitude, the focus on nature's reality, the focus on asking the right questions, the willingness to try (and to discard) unconventional answers, the sensitive ear for phoniness, self-deception, bombast, and conventional but unproven assumptions.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Nature, Attitude, Science

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• My belief is based on the fact that string theory is the first science in hundreds of years to be pursued in pre-Baconian fashion, without any adequate experimental guidance.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Fashion, Years, Adequate

  "God (or Not), Physics and, of Course, Love: Scientists Take a Leap". www.nytimes.com. January 4, 2005.

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• We atheists can argue that, with the modern revolution in attitudes toward homosexuals, we have become the only group that may not reveal itself in normal social discourse.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Atheist, Attitude, Groups

  "More And Different: Notes from a Thoughtful Curmudgeon". Book by Philip Warren Anderson, 2011.

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• One of our brainchildren is a still viable Science and Society course.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Science And Society, Stills, Courses

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• Of course I am not religious — I don't in fact see how any scientist who thinks at all deeply can be so.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Religious, Thinking, Facts

  "More and Different: Notes from a Thoughtful Curmudgeon". Book by Philip Warren Anderson, 2011.

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• The Nobel Prize gives one the opportunity to take public stands.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Opportunity, Giving, Nobel

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• Although raised on the farm - my grandfather was an unsuccessful fundamentalist preacher turned farmer - my father and his brother both became professors.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Brother, Father, Agriculture

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• The first months at Harvard were more than challenging, as I came to the realization that the humanities could be genuinely interesting, and, in fact, given the weaknesses of my background, very difficult.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Interesting, Challenges, Humanity

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• The years since the Nobel Prize have been productive ones for me.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Years, Nobel, Prize

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• I acquired an admiration for Japanese culture, art, and architecture, and learned of the existence of the game of GO, which I still play.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Art, Play, Games

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• The field of quantum valence fluctuations was another older interest which became much more active during this period, partly as a consequence of my own efforts.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Effort, Fields, Quantum

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• The prize seemed to change my professional life very little.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Littles, Prize, Professional Life

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• I have also testified repeatedly and published some articles in favor of Small Science.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Favors, Articles

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• A souvenir of those years is a small cottage on the cliffs of Cornwall, where Joyce and I spend a spring month every year, hiking and seeing friends.

  Philip Warren Anderson

  Spring, Years, Hiking

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