What I am about to say on the phenomena of turbulent flows is still far from conclusive. It concerns, rather, the first steps in a new path which I hope will be followed by many others. The researches on the problem of turbulence which have been carried on at Göttingen for about five years have …
Category Archives: Quotes
Oliver Heaviside
Shall I refuse my dinner because I do not fully understand the process of digestion? Oliver Heaviside according to von Karman and Biot, on the subject of turbulence
Daniel Bernoulli on Jean le Rond d’Alembert
“I have seen with astonishment that apart from a few little things there is nothing to be seen in his hydrodynamics but an impertinent conceit. His criticisms are puerile indeed, and show not only that he is no remarkable man, but also that he never will be.” Daniel Bernoulli on Jean le Rond d’Alembert
Matsuo Basho
An ancient pond!With a sound from the waterOf the frog as it plunges in. Matsuo Basho, 1643-1694
Jean le Rond d’Alembert
Music that paints nothing is only noise.
Maxwell
An experiment, like every other event which takes place, is a natural phenomenon; but in a scientific experiment the circumstances are so arranged that the relations between a particular set of phenomena may be studied to the best advantage. James Clerk Maxwell, 1876
Entropy
You should call it entropy, for two reasons. In the first place your uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name, so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the advantage. …
Qian Xuesen
“An engineering science aims to organize the design principles used in engineering practice into a discipline and thus to exhibit the similarities between different areas of engineering practice and to emphasize the power of fundamental concepts. In short, an engineering science is predominated by theoretical analysis and very often uses the tool of advanced mathematics.” …
Qian Xuesen
“I do not plan to come back. I have no reason to come back. I plan to do my best to help the Chinese people build up the nation to where they can live with dignity and happiness.” Qian (1955) to reporters after returning to China. Cited in: “Qian Xuesen dies at 98; rocket scientist …
John von Neumann
“If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at five o’ clock, I say why not one o’ clock?” John von Neumann As quoted in “The Passing of a Great Mind” by Clay Blair, Jr., in LIFE Magazine (25 February 1957), p. 96