atom - quotes

Ambrose (Gwinnett) Bierce, 1842-1914

was an US author and satirist

MOLECULE, n. The ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. It is distinguished from the corpuscle, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter, by a closer resemblance to the atom, also the ultimate, indivisible unit of matter. Three great scientific theories of the structure of the universe are the molecular, the corpuscular and the atomic. A fourth affirms, with Haeckel, the condensation of precipitation of matter from ether — whose existence is proved by the condensation of precipitation. The present trend of scientific thought is toward the theory of ions. The ion differs from the molecule, the corpuscle and the atom in that it is an ion. A fifth theory is held by idiots, but it is doubtful if they know any more about the matter than the others.

( “The Devil's Dictionary”, 1906 )

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

was an US (German-born) physicist

The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe.

( Telegram, 1946 )

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955

was an US (German-born) physicist

The release of atomic energy has not created a new problem. It has merely made more urgent the necessity of solving an existing one.