“The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or joy.”
Source: Einstein's Dreams
Alan Paige Lightman is an American physicist, writer, and social entrepreneur. In his scientific work, he has made fundamental contributions to the astrophysics of black holes and to the behavior of matter and radiation under conditions of extreme temperatures and densities. He has served on the faculties of Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is currently professor of the practice of the humanities at MIT. He is widely known as the author of the international bestseller Einstein's Dreams. Einstein's Dreams has been adapted into dozens of independent theatrical productions and is one of the most widely used "common books" on college campuses. Lightman's novel The Diagnosis was a finalist for the National Book Award. Lightman was the first professor at MIT to receive a joint appointment in the sciences and the humanities. He is the recipient of five honorary degrees. He is also the founder of the Harpswell Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to advance a new generation of women leaders in Southeast Asia.
“The tragedy of this world is that no one is happy, whether stuck in a time of pain or joy.”
Source: Einstein's Dreams
“Suppose time is a circle, bending back on itself. The world repeats itself, precisely, endlessly.”
Source: Einstein's Dreams
A Sense of the Mysterious : Science and the Human Spirit (2005), p. 200<!-- Pantheon Books isbn=0375423206 -->
Context: In the 1950s, academics forecast that as a result of new technology, by the year 2000 we could have a twenty-hour workweek. Such a development would be a beautiful example of technology at the service of the human being.... According to the Bureau of Statistics, the goods and services produced per hour of work in the United States has indeed more than doubled since 1950.... However, instead of reducing the workweek, the increased efficiencies and productivities have gone into increasing the salaries of workers.... Workers... rather have used their increased efficiencies and resulting increased disposable income to purchase more material goods.... Indeed, in a cruel irony, the workweek has actually lengthened.... More work is required to pay for more consumption, fueled by more production, in an endless, vicious circle.
A Sense of the Mysterious : Science and the Human Spirit (2005), p. 200<!-- Pantheon Books isbn=0375423206 -->
Context: In the 1950s, academics forecast that as a result of new technology, by the year 2000 we could have a twenty-hour workweek. Such a development would be a beautiful example of technology at the service of the human being.... According to the Bureau of Statistics, the goods and services produced per hour of work in the United States has indeed more than doubled since 1950.... However, instead of reducing the workweek, the increased efficiencies and productivities have gone into increasing the salaries of workers.... Workers... rather have used their increased efficiencies and resulting increased disposable income to purchase more material goods.... Indeed, in a cruel irony, the workweek has actually lengthened.... More work is required to pay for more consumption, fueled by more production, in an endless, vicious circle.
A Sense of the Mysterious : Science and the Human Spirit (2005), p. 200<!-- Pantheon Books isbn=0375423206 -->
Context: In the 1950s, academics forecast that as a result of new technology, by the year 2000 we could have a twenty-hour workweek. Such a development would be a beautiful example of technology at the service of the human being.... According to the Bureau of Statistics, the goods and services produced per hour of work in the United States has indeed more than doubled since 1950.... However, instead of reducing the workweek, the increased efficiencies and productivities have gone into increasing the salaries of workers.... Workers... rather have used their increased efficiencies and resulting increased disposable income to purchase more material goods.... Indeed, in a cruel irony, the workweek has actually lengthened.... More work is required to pay for more consumption, fueled by more production, in an endless, vicious circle.
“We often do not see what we do not expect to see”
Great Ideas in Physics : The Conservation of Energy, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the Theory of Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics (2000), p. 4<!-- isbn=0071357386 -->
Context: The relationship between science and the humanities is two-way. Science changes our view of the world and our place in it. In the other direction, the humanities provide the store of ideas and images and language available to us in understanding the world. The exploding star of A. D. 1054, the Crab Nebula, was sighted and documented by the Chinese, but nowhere mentioned in the West, where the Aristotelian notion of the immortality of stars still held sway. We often do not see what we do not expect to see.
“Each time is true, but the truths are not the same.”
Source: Einstein's Dreams
Source: Einstein's Dreams
Source: Einstein's Dreams
“What sense is there in continuing when one has seen the future?”
Source: Einstein's Dreams