37 Quotes by Mario Livio

The strength of the familiar electromagnetic force between two electrons, for example, is expressed in physics in terms of a constant known as the fine structure constant. The value of this constant, almost exactly 1/137, has puzzled many generations of physicists. A joke made about the famous English physicist Paul Dirac (1902-1984), one of the founders of quantum mechanics, says that upon arrival to heaven he was allowed to ask God one question. His question was: "Why 1/137?

For Newton, the world’s very existence and the mathematical regularity of the observed cosmos were evidence for God’s presence.

Tolerance of ambiguity is a necessary condition for creativity.

Mind-boggling, isn’t it? Centuries before the question of why mathematics was so effective in explaining nature was even asked, Galileo thought he already knew the answer! To him, mathematics was simply the language of the universe. To understand the universe, he argued, one must speak this language. God is indeed a mathematician.

The Golden Ratio has the unique properties that we produce its square by simply adding the number 1 and its reciprocal by subtracting the number 1.

Noether’s theorem fused together symmetries and conservation laws-these two giant pillars of physics are actually nothing but different facets of the same fundamental property.

Our mathematics is the symbolic counterpart of the universe we perceive, and its power has been continuously enhanced by human exploration.

Indeed, the genius of Abel and Galois could be compared only to a supernova-an exploding star that for a short while outshines all the billions of stars in its host galaxy.

Put simply, the cosmological argument claims that since the physical world had to come into existence somehow, there must be a First Cause, namely, a creator God.