--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The present state of atomic theory is…" description: "\"The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of atoms to be proved beyond a doubt, but also w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png" --- # The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the… ![“The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of atoms to be proved beyond a doubt, but also we even believe that we have an intimate knowledge of the constituents of the individual atoms.” quote by Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png) > “The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of atoms to be proved beyond a doubt, but also we even believe that we have an intimate knowledge of the constituents of the individual atoms.” [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We think we fully understand atomic structure, yet our knowledge is still limited and model‑dependent. **In simple terms:** We over‑estimate our grasp of atoms. Key Takeaway Question assumptions, seek deeper evidence. Themes science humility knowledge physics Mood reflective inquisitive Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - research labs - education - public communication - policy making Key Concepts quantum mechanics model uncertainty epistemology Questions to Reflect On - What evidence could challenge current atomic models? - How does scientific humility affect progress? A Different Perspective Our confidence may overlook unknown complexities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atomic Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atomic-theory-3513383/) [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Atoms Proved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms-proved-5645562/) [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Constituents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constituents/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) [Existence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence/) [Existence Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existence-atoms-3075881/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Individual Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual-atoms-3129638/) [Intimate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intimate/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Characterized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-characterized-5645563/) ## Related quotes > [“you needed only to comprehend that there is a hidden natural explanation for everything that alarms or eludes you. That explanation will inevitably lead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-greenblatt/you-needed-only-to-comprehend-that-there-is-a-hidden-natural/) [Stephen Greenblatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-greenblatt/) > [Broadly speaking, the discovery of X-rays has increased the keenness of our vision ten thousand times, and we can now 'see' the individual atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-bragg/broadly-speaking-the-discovery-of-x-rays-has-increased-the-keenness/) [William Henry Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-bragg/) > [“Bose-Einstein Condensate - Cool objects such as helium atoms to nearly absolute zero and they can clump into a single quantum entity. 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(Answer given by a pupil to a question on atomic theory, as reported by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-enfield-roscoe/atoms-are-round-balls-of-wood-invented-by-dr-dalton-answer-given-by-a/) [Henry Enfield Roscoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-enfield-roscoe/) > [“All integral laws of spectral lines and of atomic theory spring originally from the quantum theory. It is the mysterious organon on which Nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-sommerfeld/all-integral-laws-of-spectral-lines-and-of-atomic-theory-spring/) [Arnold Sommerfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-sommerfeld/) > [“Father Roger Boscovich is often credited as the father of modern atomic theory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-e-woods-jr/father-roger-boscovich-is-often-credited-as-the-father-of-modern/) [Thomas E. 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What that's done is made our party urban, more liberal, and so those… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/collin-peterson/so-republicans-packed-all-the-democrats-into-districts-very/) [Collin Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/collin-peterson/) > [I will support my party when they are right on an issue, but am not afraid to stand up to party bosses who are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darlene-senger/i-will-support-my-party-when-they-are-right-on-an-issue-but-am-not/) [Darlene Senger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darlene-senger/) ## More by Niels Bohr > [An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/an-expert-is-a-man-who-has-made-all-the-mistakes-which-can-be-made-in/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [“Stop telling God what to do with his dice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/stop-telling-god-what-to-do-with-his-dice/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes, which can be made, in a very narrow field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/an-expert-is-someone-who-knows-some-of-the-worst-mistakes-which-can/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [The opposite of every great idea is another great idea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-opposite-of-every-great-idea-is-another-great-idea/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [“Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself it’s own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/every-great-and-deep-difficulty-bears-in-itself-it-s-own-solution-it/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [It is a great pity that human beings cannot find all of their satisfaction in scientific contemplativeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/it-is-a-great-pity-that-human-beings-cannot-find-all-of-their/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [Anyone not shocked by quantum mechanics has not yet understood it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/anyone-not-shocked-by-quantum-mechanics-has-not-yet-understood-it/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [The meaning of life consists in the fact that it makes no sense to say that life has no meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-meaning-of-life-consists-in-the-fact-that-it-makes-no-sense-to/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [Technology has advanced more in the last thirty years than in the previous two thousand. The exponential increase in advancement will only continue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/technology-has-advanced-more-in-the-last-thirty-years-than-in-the/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [ Anybody who is not shocked by this subject has failed to understand it. \[of quantum mechanics\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/anybody-who-is-not-shocked-by-this-subject-has-failed-to-understand/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [When it comes to atoms, language can be used only as in poetry. The poet, too, is not nearly so concerned with describing facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/when-it-comes-to-atoms-language-can-be-used-only-as-in-poetry-the/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [Every description of natural processes must be based on ideas which have been introduced and defined by the classical theory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/every-description-of-natural-processes-must-be-based-on-ideas-which/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [It is, indeed, perhaps the greatest prospect of humanistic studies to contribute through an increasing knowledge of the history of cultural development to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/it-is-indeed-perhaps-the-greatest-prospect-of-humanistic-studies-to/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [One thought spectra are marvellous, but it is not possible to make progress there. Just as if you have the wing of a butterfly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/one-thought-spectra-are-marvellous-but-it-is-not-possible-to-make/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) > [If you think you understand it, that only shows that you don't know the first thing about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/if-you-think-you-understand-it-that-only-shows-that-you-don-t-know/) [Niels Bohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) [Explore all 108 Niels Bohr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/) ## More Atoms quotes > [If the polymer chain assumes a helicoidal conformation in the crystalline state, and if it does not contain asymmetric carbon atoms, it can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giulio-natta/if-the-polymer-chain-assumes-a-helicoidal-conformation-in-the/) [Giulio Natta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giulio-natta/) > [Physicist Isador Isaac Rabi, who won a Nobel Prize for inventing a technique that permitted scientists to probe the structure of atoms and molecules…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-saul-wurman/physicist-isador-isaac-rabi-who-won-a-nobel-prize-for-inventing-a/) [Richard Saul Wurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-saul-wurman/) > [Pound St. Paul's Church into atoms, and consider any single atom; it is to be sure, good for nothing; but put all these atoms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/pound-st-paul-s-church-into-atoms-and-consider-any-single-atom-it-is/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [A monkey is unaware that atoms exist. Likewise, our brainpower may not stretch to the deepest aspects of reality. The bedrock nature of space…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-rees/a-monkey-is-unaware-that-atoms-exist-likewise-our-brainpower-may-not/) [Martin Rees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-rees/) > [ \[Decoding the human genome sequence\] is the most significant undertaking that we have mounted so far in an organized way in all of science.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-collins/decoding-the-human-genome-sequence-is-the-most-significant/) [Francis Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-collins/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) [Wilhelm Korner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-korner/) > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. And yet-I am inclined to expect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-seen-what-to-me-seemed-an-atom-of-proof-that-there-is-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“An atom is mostly made up of empty space. If you remove the empty space from every atom, the entire world's human population could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/weike-wang/an-atom-is-mostly-made-up-of-empty-space-if-you-remove-the-empty/) [Weike Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/weike-wang/) > [Nature is full of wonders; every atom is a standing miracle, and endowed with such qualities, as could not be impressed on it by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/nature-is-full-of-wonders-every-atom-is-a-standing-miracle-and/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [ “\[Think\] of an experience from your childhood. Something you remember clearly, something you can see, feel, maybe even smell, as if you were really… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-grand/think-of-an-experience-from-your-childhood-something-you-remember/) [Steve Grand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-grand/) > [The books remind us that way down deep in our hearts, part of us knows that we are creatures of light and we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-books-remind-us-that-way-down-deep-in-our-hearts-part-of-us-knows/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) [Browse all 852 Atoms quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of atoms to be proved beyond a doubt, but also we even believe that we have an intimate knowledge of the constituents of the individual atoms.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Niels Bohr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-characterized-by-the-fact-that/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Atoms" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-characterized-by-the-fact-that/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/niels-bohr-4542_atoms_the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-ch_2337406.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The present state of atomic theory is characterized by the fact that we not only believe the existence of…” — Niels Bohr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Niels Bohr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niels-bohr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The present state of atomic theory...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-characterized-by-the-fact-that/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niels-bohr/the-present-state-of-atomic-theory-is-characterized-by-the-fact-that/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```