Teller
Teller
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntertainer
Date of Birth14 February 1948
CountryUnited States of America
discovery challenges tests
[Chemistry] laboratory work was my first challenge. ... I still carry the scars of my first discovery-that test-tubes are fragile.
regret real hydrogen-bomb
Had we not pursued the hydrogen bomb, there is a very real threat that we would now all be speaking Russian. I have no regrets.
physics mathematics meaningless
Physics without mathematics is meaningless.
simplicity becoming purpose
The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler.
optimism guilty crime
I am guilty of the great crime of optimism.
information damage doe
Secrecy in science does not work. Withholding information does more damage to us than to our competitors.
believe acceptance simplicity
It is often claimed that knowledge multiplies so rapidly that nobody can follow it. I believe this is incorrect. At least in science it is not true. The main purpose of science is simplicity and as we understand more things, everything is becoming simpler. This, of course, goes contrary to what everyone accepts.
believe talking quality
I believe in good. It is an ephemeral and elusive quality. It is the center of my beliefs, but it cannot be strengthened by talking about it.
mistake science genius
If there ever was a misnomer, it is "exact science." Science has always been full of mistakes. The present day is no exception. And our mistakes are good mistakes; they require a genius to correct. Of course, we do not see our own mistakes.
future exotic done
Really exotic methods of propulsion . . . will have to be devised to get there. How it will be done, I do not know. Whether it will be done, I am not quite certain. But I would bet it can be done.
simple common-sense way
I claim that relativity and the rest of modern physics is not complicated. It can be explained very simply. It is only unusual or, put another way, it is contrary to common sense.
education thinking pages
I think that intellectuals who end up in hell will have to read page proofs and check indexes there.
funny humor fool
When you're certain you cannot be fooled, you become easy to fool.
future science uncertainty-principle
One may say that predictions are dangerous particularly for the future. If the danger involved in a prediction is not incurred, no consequence follows and the uncertainty principle is not violated.