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Electromagnetic Quotes

Waves, energy, and the physics of what connects us.

One physicist explains why amplifying atoms is subtler than amplifying electromagnetic waves, since atoms can only change state, never be created. Another takes the idea somewhere more personal, describing people as units of energy that vibrate and project thought, a leap also made in Amplify quotes.

Amplifying atoms is more subtle than amplifying electromagnetic waves because atoms can only change their quantum state and cannot be created. Therefore, even if one could amplify gold atoms, one would not realize the dreams of medieval alchemy.

Quotes by Wolfgang Ketterle

My work during the 1970s has been mainly concerned with the implications of the unified theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions, with the development of the related theory of strong interactions known as quantum chromodynamics, and with steps toward the...

Quotes by Steven Weinberg

For in 1900 all electromagnetic radiation of longer wavelengths was already known at least to the extent that one could not seek in it the more striking characteristics of X-rays such as, for example, the strong penetrating power.

Quotes by Max von Laue

What I view life like is about energy. Everything is about energy - everything. We physically are little units of electrical energy, and we vibrate and project electromagnetic thought.

Quotes by John Trudell

Act Quotes

At the head of these new discoveries and insights comes the establishment of the facts that electricity is composed of discrete particles of equal size, or quanta, and that light is an electromagnetic wave motion.

Quotes by Johannes Stark

For under certain conditions the chemical atoms emit light waves of a specific length or oscillation frequency - their familiar characteristic spectra - and these can come in the form of electromagnetic waves only from accelerated electric quanta.

Quotes by Johannes Stark

I've always admired sharks because they have a dimension of intelligence that is somewhat unique to that animal, and especially a great white. A great white has this organ called an ampullae of Lorenzini, and it can actually sense electromagnetic...

Quotes by Jim Toomey

We have all kinds of limitations as human beings. I mean we can't see the whole electromagnetic spectrum; we can't see the very small; we can't see the very far. So we compensate for these short comings with technological scaffoldings....

Quotes by Jason Silva

I joined the Army and was sent to the MIT radiation laboratory after a few months of introduction to electromagnetic wave theory in a special course, given for Army personnel at the University of Chicago.

Quotes by Jack Steinberger

Amplify Quotes

Gravitational and electromagnetic interactions are long-range interactions, meaning they act on objects no matter how far they are separated from each other.

Quotes by Francois Englert

Since my own genome was sequenced, my software has been broadcast into space in the form of electromagnetic waves, carrying my genetic information far beyond Earth. Whether there is any creature out there capable of making sense of the instructions...

Quotes by Craig Venter

During my years at the synchrotron laboratory, I had become interested in the theory of quantum electrodynamics and had decided that what I would most like to do after completing my dissertation work was to probe the short-distance behavior of...

Quotes by Burton Richter

Everything we know about the universe is studied by using telescopes or other instruments that look at visible light, infrared, ultraviolet or X-ray - different wavelengths of electromagnetic interactions. Only 4 percent of what's in the universe gives off electromagnetic...

Quotes by Barry Barish

Frequently Asked Questions

What's this Electromagnetic quotes collection about?
These are quotes from physicists and other thinkers discussing electromagnetic phenomena - from technical explanations of quantum theory and the history of X-ray discovery to a more spiritual claim that human thought itself is electromagnetic energy.
What does the quote about amplifying atoms explain?
It argues that amplifying atoms is a subtler problem than amplifying electromagnetic waves, specifically because atoms can only shift between existing quantum states rather than being created outright, a distinction relevant to fields like laser physics. For other quotes on scientific and technical concepts, see the Amplify quotes collection.
Why do people search for quotes about electromagnetic theory?
Students and science writers often want accessible, quotable framing of dense physics concepts, and these lines, written by physicists themselves, offer that without oversimplifying the science.
Is there a quote connecting electromagnetism to something outside physics?
Yes - one frames all of life as energy, describing people as small units of electrical energy that vibrate and project electromagnetic thought, taking the concept into a more metaphysical direction than the other, more technical quotes.
Does this collection touch on the history of electromagnetic research?
Yes - one references how, as of 1900, electromagnetic radiation at longer wavelengths was already understood well enough that it lacked the striking novelty of newly discovered X-rays, situating the topic in the history of physics.

A third traces electromagnetic radiation back to what was known before X-rays were even discovered. For more on energy and interaction, see Act quotes and Army quotes.