““For [Wolfgang] Pauli the central problem of electrodynamics was the field concept and the existence of an elementary charge which is expressible by the fine-structure constant ... 1/137. This fundamental pure number had greatly fascinated Pauli, .... For Pauli the explanation of the number 137 was the test of a successful field theory, a test which no theory has passed up to now.””
![“If alpha [the fine-structure constant] were bigger than it really…” quote by Max Born](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f20/max-born-17349_able_if-alpha-the-fine-structure-constant-wer_1491109.jpg)
