My best subjects were chemistry and math.

When a teacher initially believes that one student is smarter than another, he selectively focuses on evidence that tends to confirm the hypothesis.

The Nazis confiscated his personal property, burned his works on relativity, and put a five-thousand-dollar bounty on his head.

Instead, like Heisenberg, his priority seemed to be to preserve as much of German science as possible, while complying with all Nazi laws and regulations.

Upon learning of the young man’s interest in a physics book, Lindemann, a number theorist, abruptly ended the interview, saying, “In that case you are completely lost to mathematics.

The mythical stories we tell about our heroes are always more romantic and often more palatable than the truth.

There is therefore a fundamental clash between our need to feel we are in control and our ability to recognize randomness.

Einstein, who was then a professor in Berlin, was by chance visiting Caltech in the United States the day Hitler was appointed.

I wouldn’t have to drop out of academia and take a more lucrative position waiting tables at the faculty club.

The reason is, when there is a hard problem, one has to work a long time and has to be persistent. In order to be persistent, you have got to be convinced that it’s worthwhile working so hard, that you’re going to get somewhere.