“Usually, a discovery is not made in the easiest but on a complicated way; the simple cases show up only later.”

—  Otto Hahn

Gewönlich wird eine Entdeckung nicht auf den einfachsten, sondern auf einem komplizierten Wege gemacht; die einfachen Fälle zeigen sich erst später.
Vom Radiothor zur Uranspaltung. Eine wissenschaftliche Selbstbiographie (1962).

Original

Gewönlich wird eine Entdeckung nicht auf den einfachsten, sondern auf einem komplizierten Wege gemacht; die einfachen Fälle zeigen sich erst später.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Usually, a discovery is not made in the easiest but on a complicated way; the simple cases show up only later." by Otto Hahn?
Otto Hahn photo
Otto Hahn 1
German chemist 1879–1968

Related quotes

Timothy Ferriss photo

“"If only I had more money" is the easiest way to postpone the intense self-examination and decision-making necessary to create a life of enjoyment - now and not later.”

Timothy Ferriss book The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour Workweek (2007)

Cheryl Strayed photo

“That my complicated life could be made so simple was astounding.”

Cheryl Strayed book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Source: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Carol Ann Duffy photo

“I like to use simple words, but in a complicated way.”

Carol Ann Duffy (1955) British writer and professor of contemporary poetry
Glen Cook photo

“Smeds did not like it. It was getting complicated. He did not like things complicated. Trying to untangle them usually made things worse.”

Glen Cook book The Silver Spike

Source: The Silver Spike (1989), Chapter 28 (p. 541)

Charles Mingus photo

“Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”

Charles Mingus (1922–1979) American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader

Statement in Mainliner (July 1977), as quoted in Creativity and the writing process (1982) by Olivia Bertagnolli, p. 182; also partly quoted in Survival Skills for Managers (1981) by Marlene Wilson, p. 19
Variant: Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.
As quoted in The Evaluation and Treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (1999) by Nils R. Varney and Richard J. Roberts, p. 303
Context: My son's a painter. All through school his teachers tell him he's a genius. I tell him to paint me an apple that looks like and apple before he paints me one that doesn't. Go where you can go, but start from someplace recognizable. Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.

“Love is the easiest thing there is. It's the layers of doubt, fear, and expectation that make it complicated.”

Luanne Rice (1955) American author

Source: Beach Girls

John Kenneth Galbraith photo

“Simple minds, presumably, are the easiest to manage.”

John Kenneth Galbraith book The Affluent Society

Source: The Affluent Society (1958), Chapter 19, Section V, p. 218

Mark Hurd photo

“There are unique opportunities for differentiating yourself from competition. By the way, they don’t come along every day. And usually, they show up in a crisis.”

Mark Hurd (1957–2019) American businessman, philanthropist and CEO of Oracle

Interview with Forbes: "Oracle's Mark Hurd: Innovation, Savings Make Cloud Transition 'Inevitable'" https://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2016/09/15/oracles-mark-hurd-innovation-savings-make-cloud-transition-inevitable/ (15 September 2016)

Noam Chomsky photo

“Science talks about very simple things, and asks hard questions about them. As soon as things become too complex, science can't deal with them… But it's a complicated matter: Science studies what's at the edge of understanding, and what's at the edge of understanding is usually fairly simple. And it rarely reaches human affairs. Human affairs are way too complicated. In fact even understanding insects is an extremely complicated problem in the sciences. So the actual sciences tell us virtually nothing about human affairs.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Science in the Dock, Discussion with Noam Chomsky, Lawrence Krauss & Sean M. Carroll (2011), 2, Chomsky.info, March 1, 2006, August 16, 2011 http://www.chomsky.info/debates/20060301.htm,
Quotes 2010s, 2011

Related topics