Some quotations on beauty and order in nature

Last updated on: September 13, 2015 at 6:22 pm by Dan Peterson

Some quotations on beauty and order in nature 2015-09-13T18:22:21-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

An illustration of Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion: 1. The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. 2. A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time. 3. The square of the orbital period of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-major axis of its orbit.
(Image from Wikimedia CC)

Einstein famously commented that the most unintelligible thing about the universe is its intelligibility. And his fellow Nobel laureate in physics, Eugene Wigner, wrote a well-known paper entitled “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences.”

The noted biochemist Lewis Thomas was fascinated when he discovered that every species of animal to appear in the paleontological strata, as well as all those living today, is perfect according to its kind. Every type is expertly suited to fly or run or swim, to reproduce, and to be nourished in remarkably effective ways—not more or less adapted, but perfectly so; not clumsy at first and then skilled; not more less beautiful, but entirely so. We do not find awkward and crippled species in transitional stages in the past or in the present. [Thomas Dubay, The Evidential Power of Beauty: Science and Theology Meet (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1999), 12-13]

Thomas: “I cannot make my peace with the randomness doctrine: I cannot abide the notion of purposelessness and blind chance in nature. And yet I do not know what to put in its place for the quieting of my mind. It is absurd to say that a place like this place is absurd, when it contains, in front of our eyes, so many billions [sic] of different forms of life, each one in its way perfect.” (Cited at Dubay, The Evidential Power of Beauty, 24)

Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate in physics for 1965: “You can recognize truth by its beauty and simplicity.”[(Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1965), 171.

“All of the most eminent physicists of the twentieth century agree that beauty is the primary standard for scientific truth. . . . In physics, beautry reigns supreme.” [Robert Augros and George Stanciu, The New Story of Science (Lake Bluff, IL: Regnery Gateway, 1984), 39, 41]

If a lily were the only flower on earth, exhibits of it would be staged in major cities of the world, and long lines would form for the privilege of drinking in its exquisite artistry and splendor.” (Dubay, The Evidential Power of Beauty, 23)

Paul Dirac, Nobel laureate in physics for 1993, remarked that “It is more important to have beauty in one’s equations than to have them fit experiment.” (Cited in Augros and Stanciu, The New Story of Science, 40).

Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Nobel laureate in physics: “Frequently, a theorist will throw out a lot of data on the grounds that if they don’t fit an elegant scheme, they’re wrong. That’s happened to me many times. The theory of weak interactions: there were nine experiments that contradicted it—all wrong. Every one. When you have something simple that agrees with all the rest of physics and really seems to explain what’s going on, a few experimental data against it are no objection whatever. Almost certain to be wrong.” (Cited in Augros and Stanciu, The New Story of Science, 41. Emphasis in original.)

Werner Heisenberg, Nobel laureate in physics for 1932: The truth of one of his positions in quantum mechanics “was immediately found convincing by virtue of its completeness and abstract beauty.” (Werner Heisenberg, “The Meaning of Beauty in the Exact Sciences,” Across the Frontier (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), 183)

Johannes Kepler described his work as an attempt at “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.”

Uncategorized

Previous Post

September 13, 2015

New Testament 266

Next Post

September 13, 2015 Of Jewish Studies . . . and (by implication) Religious Studies . . . and Mormon Studies

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What valley did David face Goliath in?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Valley of Jezreel Valley of Achor Valley of Elah Kidron Valley