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For many centuries before modern science, and for the first two and a half centuries of modern science, the division of reality into matter and light seemed self-evident. ...As long as the separation between the massive and the massless persisted, a unified description of the physical world could not be achieved.

— Frank Wilczek The Lightness of Being – Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces (2008)

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Nature

More quotes by Frank Wilczek

Quite undeservedly, the ether has acquired a bad name.

The answer to the ancient question "Why is there something rather than nothing?" would then be that ‘nothing’ is unstable.

The whole idea of science is really to listen to nature, in her own language, as part of a continuing dialogue.

Longing for the Harmonies: Themes and Variations from Modern Physics (1987)

As the idea of permanence of objects has faded, the idea of permanence of physical laws has become better established and more powerful.

Longing for the Harmonies: Themes and Variations from Modern Physics (1987)

An ordinary mistake is one that leads to a dead end, while a profound mistake is one that leads to progress. Anyone can make an ordinary mistake, but it takes a genius to make a profound mistake.

The Lightness of Being – Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces (2008)

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Frank Wilczek (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.