--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is not what I thought physics was…" description: "\"This is not what I thought physics was about when I started out: I learned that the idea is to explain nature in terms of clearly understood mathematic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/hans-christian-von-baeyer-2413_comparison_this-is-not-what-i-thought-physics-was-a_815494.jpg" --- # This is not what I thought physics was about when I… ![“This is not what I thought physics was about when I started out: I learned that the idea is to explain nature in terms of clearly understood mathematical laws; but perhaps comparisons are the best we can hope for.” quote by Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/hans-christian-von-baeyer-2413_comparison_this-is-not-what-i-thought-physics-was-a_815494.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/hans-christian-von-baeyer-2413_comparison_this-is-not-what-i-thought-physics-was-a_815494.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eaa/hans-christian-von-baeyer-2413_comparison_this-is-not-what-i-thought-physics-was-a_815494.jpg) > “This is not what I thought physics was about when I started out: I learned that the idea is to explain nature in terms of clearly understood mathematical laws; but perhaps comparisons are the best we can hope for.” [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Physics aims to model nature with precise math, yet often relies on analogies to convey concepts. **In simple terms:** Physics uses math, but analogies help explain. Key Takeaway Use analogies to bridge complex ideas. Themes science communication understanding Mood educational thoughtful Type scientific explanatory When to use this quote - teaching - public outreach - interdisciplinary research Key Concepts mathematical modeling analogy conceptual clarity Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance precision and simplicity? - When are analogies insufficient? A Different Perspective Analogies can oversimplify or mislead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Comparison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comparison/) [Explain Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-nature-315144/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Learned Idea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learned-idea-315146/) [Mathematical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mathematical/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) [Physics Started](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics-started-315143/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Thought Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-physics-315145/) [Understood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/understood/) ## Related quotes > [The violent reaction on the recent development of modern physics can only be understood when one realises that here the foundations of physics have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/the-violent-reaction-on-the-recent-development-of-modern-physics-can/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [At school any spontaneous act was likely to get me into trouble. I learned never to act on impulse, and that whatever came into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-johnstone/at-school-any-spontaneous-act-was-likely-to-get-me-into-trouble-i/) [Keith Johnstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-johnstone/) > [I've long ago learned that if an idea will stand on its own, it'll stand having the light shone on it. But if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fogerty/i-ve-long-ago-learned-that-if-an-idea-will-stand-on-its-own-it-ll/) [John Fogerty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fogerty/) > [To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-explain-all-nature-is-too-difficult-a-task-for-any-one-man-or-even-3/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [To explain all nature is too difficult a task for any one man or even for any one age. 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'Tis much better to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/to-explain-all-nature-is-too-difficult-a-task-for-any-one-man-or-even/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [Natural science, does not simply describe and explain nature; it is part of the interplay between nature and ourselves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/natural-science-does-not-simply-describe-and-explain-nature-it-is/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [“We create models to explain nature, but the models wind up gatecrashing nature and driving away the original inhabitants.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/we-create-models-to-explain-nature-but-the-models-wind-up/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [To speak of this subject you must... explain the nature of the resistance of the air, in the second the anatomy of the bird…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/to-speak-of-this-subject-you-must-explain-the-nature-of-the/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Furthermore, I shall explain the nature of dharmata: Such a nature as this cannot be determined to be any one thing. So however you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/furthermore-i-shall-explain-the-nature-of-dharmata-such-a-nature-as/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [Numbers instill a feeling for the lie of the land, and furnish grist for the mathematical mill that is the physicist's principal tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/numbers-instill-a-feeling-for-the-lie-of-the-land-and-furnish-grist/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [We don't know what energy is, any more than we know what information is, but as a now robust scientific concept we can describe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/we-don-t-know-what-energy-is-any-more-than-we-know-what-information/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Geometry, which should only obey Physics, when united with it sometimes commands it. If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [It is exactly in the repetition of the exercises that the education of the senses exists; not that the child shall know colors, forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-montessori/it-is-exactly-in-the-repetition-of-the-exercises-that-the-education/) [Maria Montessori](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-montessori/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) ## More by Hans Christian von Baeyer > [Claude Shannon, the founder of information theory, invented a way to measure 'the amount of information' in a message without defining the word 'information'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/claude-shannon-the-founder-of-information-theory-invented-a-way-to/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [We don't know what energy is, any more than we know what information is, but as a now robust scientific concept we can describe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/we-don-t-know-what-energy-is-any-more-than-we-know-what-information/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [An electron is real; a probability is not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/an-electron-is-real-a-probability-is-not/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [To put it one way, a collection of Shakespeare's plays is richer than a phone book that uses the same number of letters; to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/to-put-it-one-way-a-collection-of-shakespeare-s-plays-is-richer-than/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Information gently but relentlessly drizzles down on us in an invisible, impalpable electric rain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/information-gently-but-relentlessly-drizzles-down-on-us-in-an/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Underneath the shifting appearances of the world as perceived by our unreliable senses, is there, or is there not, a bedrock of objective reality?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/underneath-the-shifting-appearances-of-the-world-as-perceived-by-our/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [In fact, an information theory that leaves out the issue of noise turns out to have no content.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/in-fact-an-information-theory-that-leaves-out-the-issue-of-noise/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Numbers instill a feeling for the lie of the land, and furnish grist for the mathematical mill that is the physicist's principal tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/numbers-instill-a-feeling-for-the-lie-of-the-land-and-furnish-grist/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [If the intensity of the material world is plotted along the horizontal axis, and the response of the human mind is on the vertical,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/if-the-intensity-of-the-material-world-is-plotted-along-the/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [The problem of defining exactly what is meant by the signal velocity, which cropped up as long ago as 1907, has not been solved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/the-problem-of-defining-exactly-what-is-meant-by-the-signal-velocity/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [Both induction and deduction, reasoning from the particular and the general, and back again from the universal to the specific, form the essence to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/both-induction-and-deduction-reasoning-from-the-particular-and-the/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [In order to understand information, we must define it; bit in order to define it, we must first understand it. Where to start?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/in-order-to-understand-information-we-must-define-it-bit-in-order-to/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [“Science has taught us that what we see and touch is not what is really there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/science-has-taught-us-that-what-we-see-and-touch-is-not-what-is/) [Hans Christian Von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [If quantum communication and quantum computation are to flourish, a new information theory will have to be developed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/if-quantum-communication-and-quantum-computation-are-to-flourish-a/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) > [The smell of subjectivity clings to the mechanical definition of complexity as stubbornly as it sticks to the definition of information.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-christian-von-baeyer/the-smell-of-subjectivity-clings-to-the-mechanical-definition-of/) [Hans Christian von Baeyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) [Explore all 25 Hans Christian von Baeyer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-christian-von-baeyer/) ## More Comparison quotes > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 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If it happens that the question which we wish to examine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/geometry-which-should-only-obey-physics-when-united-with-it-sometimes/) [Jean le Rond d'Alembert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-le-rond-d-alembert/) > [I like to say that women are those who form life in their wombs - and this is a comparison I make - they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/i-like-to-say-that-women-are-those-who-form-life-in-their-wombs-and/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [You are Insignificant. One of millions, neither special nor unique. I did not ask for this ignominy, and I resent the comparison. Fine. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/you-are-insignificant-one-of-millions-neither-special-nor-unique-i/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [President Obama's achievements and failures must be evaluated by comparison to those chief executives who have come before him and not be measured against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-garrow/president-obama-s-achievements-and-failures-must-be-evaluated-by/) [David Garrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-garrow/) > [Composing a piece of music is very feminine. It is sensitive, emotional, contemplative. By comparison, doing housework is positively masculine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kolb/composing-a-piece-of-music-is-very-feminine-it-is-sensitive-emotional/) [Barbara Kolb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kolb/) > [I think the first person to call me 'Britain's Obama' was Martin Bright at the New Statesman. 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