Engineering & Science Notable Tech Quote Archive #29

Notable Tech Quotes - RF CafeThe number of statements uttered verbally and/or in print is uncountable. Some are more noteworthy than others either because of sheer brilliance, good humor, or utter inanity. We all hope our own remembered words, if any, fall into one of the first two categories rather than the third. I do a lot of reading and find many notable quotes to use that fit the theme of RF Cafe; they fall into all three categories. I always try to verify quotes from original sources or at least from printed books like The Experts Speak, of which I own a hard copy. Enjoy.

Notable Tech Quote Archive

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Notable Tech Quote: Carlson's Consolation

Notable Tech Quote: Carlson's Consolation - RF Cafe"Nothing is ever a complete failure; it can always serve as a bad example." - Carlson's Consolation. I tried to find out who this Carlson guy is, but could not locate a definitive source. The same quote is sometimes referred to as Carson's Consolation. Regardless of its progenitor, the tenet holds true.

9/22/2015

Notable Tech Quote: MIT School of Engineering Dean Gordon S. Brown

Dean Gordon S. Brown (MIT image) - RF Cafe"Engineering is not merely knowing and being knowledgeable, like a walking encyclopedia; engineering is not merely analysis; engineering is not merely the possession of the capacity to get elegant solutions to non-existent engineering problems; engineering is practicing the art of the organized forcing of technological change... Engineers operate at the interface between science and society." - Gordon S. Brown; Dean of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) School of Engineering.

9/15/2015

Notable Quote: William Gibson

William Gibson, Zero History - RF Cafe"When you want to know how things really work, study them when they're coming apart." ― William Gibson, Zero History. Gibson is a high tech science fiction writer who focuses on artificial intelligence and the government's and corporate world's ability to track your every move - sort of modern day 1984 stuff only now it's already real.

9/8/2015

Notable Quote: Putt's Law

Notable Quote: Putt's Law - RF Cafe"Technology is dominated by two types of people:  those who understand what they do not manage and those who manage what they do not understand." - Archibald Putt, Ph.D., from Putt's Law and the Successful Technocrat. Per the publisher, John Wiley & Sons, "'Archibald Putt' is the pseudonym of a man whose contributions in science, engineering, and R&D management are well known. He has served on government advisory committees, managed basic and applied research, and held executive positions in a large multinational corporation. He received his PhD degree from a leading institute of technology and has served as president of an international technical society. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles."

9/1/2015

Notable Quote: Benjamin Peirce

Notable Quote: Benjamin Peirce - RF Cafe"Gentlemen, ei*π + 1 = 0 is surely true, it is absolutely paradoxical; we cannot understand it, and we don't know what it means. But we have proved it, and therefore we know it must be truth." - Benjamin Peirce (not to be confused with Captain Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce ), 19th century Harvard mathematician. ei*π + 1 = 0 i, BTW, is known as Euler's identity - engineers live by it.

8/25/2015

"... in the past month Trump has b*tch-slapped the entire Republican Party"

Scott Adams' Blog: Clown Genius - RF Cafe"If you're keeping score, in the past month Trump has b*tch-slapped the entire Republican Party, redefined our expectations of politics, focused the national discussion on immigration, proposed the only new idea for handling ISIS, and taken functional control of FOX News. And I don't think he put much effort into it. Imagine what he could do if he gave up golf." - Scott Adams, Dilbert comic strip creator, in his August 13, 2015 Scott Adams' Blog entry titled "Clown Genius."

8/18/2015

Notable Quote: Dr. Ben Carson

Notable Quote: Dr. Ben Carson - RF Cafe"I'm the only one who has removed half a brain, but if you went to Washington, you'd think someone beat me to it." - Dr. Ben Carson, pediatric neurosurgeon and presidential candidate. Hearing this audio clip on the news caused me to laugh out loud (I can't stand watching political debates). My detestation for the vast majority of politicians of every stripe makes me believe there is truth in what was said - figuratively and literally. For the record, this is not an endorsement, just recognition of someone who evidently despises status quo politics as much as I do ...

8/11/2015

Notable Quote: David Hilbert

David Hilbert, mathematician - RF Cafe"Although infinity is needed in mathematics, it occurs nowhere in the physical universe." - David Hilbert, mathematician, quoted in Nature

8/4/2015

Notable Quote: Henri Poincaré

Henri Poincaré, mathematician, in "Science and Hypothesis" - RF Cafe"Science is built up of facts, as a house is built of stones; but an accumulation of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house." - Henri Poincaré, mathematician, in Science and Hypothesis

7/28/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Benjamin Franklin

Notable Tech Quote: Benjamin Franklin - RF Cafe"An iron rod being placed on the outside of a building from the highest part continued down into the moist earth, in any direction strait or crooked, following the form of the roof or other parts of the building, will receive the lightning at its upper end, attracting it so as to prevent it's striking any other part; and, affording it a good conveyance into the earth, will prevent its damaging any part of the building." - Benjamin Franklin Of Lightning, and the Method (now used in America) of securing Buildings and Persons from its mischievous Effects, Paris 1767. See also Mac's Radio Service Shop - A Little Lightning story.

7/21/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Isaac Asimov

Notable Tech Quote: Isaac Asimov - RF Cafe"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom." - Isaac Asimov, Isaac Asimov's Book of Science and Nature Quotations

7/14/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Steve Sant Andrea

Steve Sant Andrea Quote ARRL QST file photo - RF Cafe"The great thing about reactances being imaginary is that the -j1590 Ω of capacitive reactance can be neutralized by adding +j1590 Ω of inductive reactance. Cool, huh? Add ohms to ohms and get fewer ohms! You can't do that with resistors!" - Steve Sant Andrea (AG1YK), June 2014 QST magazine.

7/7/2015

Notable Tech Quote

Notable Tech Quote for June 30, 2015 - RF Cafe"There are two kinds of countries: Those that use the metric system and those that have sent men to the moon." - Anon

6/30/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Samuel Morse

Samuel F. B. Morse (Wikipedia) - RF Cafe"This mode of instantaneous communication must inevitably become an instrument of immense power, to be wielded for good or for evil, as it shall be properly or improperly directed." Samuel F. B. Morse, in an 1838 letter to Congressman and business partner Francis O.J. Smith, of Maine.

6/23/2015

Notable Tech Quote:

Eric Ryan, Method and Olly founder (Inc photo) - RF Cafe"Mediocre hires are like empty calories: They make you bigger but less healthy." - Eric Ryan, Method and Olly founder, in June 2015 Inc magazine article titled "Playbook: The Fine Art of People."

6/16/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan quote (CSI photo) -  RF Cafe"Only the ideas that pass through a rigorous self-filtration make it out and are criticized by the rest of the scientific community. It sometimes happens that ideas that are accepted by everybody turn out to be wrong, or at least partially wrong, or at least superseded by ideas of greater generality. And, while there are of course some personal losses—emotional bonds to the idea that you yourself played a role in inventing—nevertheless the collective ethic is that every time such an idea is overthrown and replaced by something better the enterprise of science has benefited." - Carl Sagan, "The Burden of Skepticism", Skeptical Inquirer, v12.1, Fall 1987

6/9/2015

Notable Tech Quote: Dan Romanchik

"Heck, many kids today don't even know what radio is" - Dan Romanchik - RF Cafe Notable Tech Quote"Heck, many kids today don't even know what radio is (and don't realize that their cellphones are actually radios)" – Dan Romanchik, author of Is Amateur Radio Still a Gateway to Electrical Engineering?

6/2/2015

Notable Tech Quote: James A. Michener

James Michener Interview Photo (achievement.org photo) - RF Cafe"A scientist studies what is, an engineer studies what never was." - James A. Michener, historical fiction author.

5/26/2015 

Notable Tech Quote:

Dr. Peter Venkman: Ghostbusers(tm) - RF Cafe"You're always so concerned about your reputation. Einstein did his best stuff when he was working as a patent clerk!" - Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters

5/19/2015 

Notable Tech Quote: Scott Adams

Scott Adams Notable Quote, May 12, 2015 - RF Cafe"Scientists will eventually stop flailing around with solar power and focus their efforts on harnessing the only truly unlimited source of energy on the planet: stupidity. I predict that in the future, scientists will learn how to convert stupidity into clean fuel." - Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert

5/12/2015