“An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid.”

—  Ernest Rutherford

As quoted in Einstein: The Man and His Achievement (1973) by G. J. Whitrow, p. 42
Variants:
If you can't explain your physics to a barmaid it is probably not very good physics.
As quoted in Journal of Advertising Research (March-April 1998)
A theory that you can't explain to a bartender is probably no damn good.
As quoted in The Language of God (2006) by Francis Collins, p. 60

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Ernest Rutherford 16
New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist 1871–1937

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