11 quotes
Why are the theories of physics so similar in their structure?
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
The theory of quantum electrodynamics describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you accept Nature as She is — absurd.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
While I am describing to you how Nature works, you won't understand why Nature works that way. But you see, nobody understands that.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
Light is something like raindrops — each little lump of light is called a photon — and if the light is all one color, all the "raindrops" are the same.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
People are always asking for the latest developments in the unification of this theory with that theory, and they don't give us a chance to tell them anything about what we know pretty well. They always want to know the things we don't know.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
Every instrument that has been designed to be sensitive enough to detect weak light has always ended up discovering that the same thing: light is made of particles.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
You will have to brace yourselves for this — not because it is difficult to understand, but because it is absolutely ridiculous: All we do is draw little arrows on a piece of paper — that's all!
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
The scale of light can be described by numbers — called the frequency — and as the numbers get higher, the light goes from red to blue to ultraviolet. We can't see ultraviolet light, but it can affect photographic plates. It's still light — only the number is different.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
Will you understand what I'm going to tell you? ... No, you're not going to be able to understand it. ... That is because I don't understand it. Nobody does.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
When a photon comes down, it interacts with electrons throughout the glass, not just on the surface. The photon and electrons do some kind of dance, the net result of which is the same as if the photon hit only on the surface.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)
[T]he experimentally measured mass m, and... charge, e, of the electron are different from the numbers in our calculations, n and j.
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (1985)