--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Chemistry, until my childhood, not that…" description: "\"Chemistry, until my childhood, not that long ago, was regarded as a calculating device. Because you couldn't reduce to physics. So it's just some way o..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/noam-chomsky-42_atom_chemistry-until-my-childhood-not-that-lo_491877.jpg" --- # Chemistry, until my childhood, not that long ago, was… ![“Chemistry, until my childhood, not that long ago, was regarded as a calculating device. Because you couldn't reduce to physics. So it's just some way of calculating the result of experiments. The Bohr atom was treated that way.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/noam-chomsky-42_atom_chemistry-until-my-childhood-not-that-lo_491877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/noam-chomsky-42_atom_chemistry-until-my-childhood-not-that-lo_491877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c2/noam-chomsky-42_atom_chemistry-until-my-childhood-not-that-lo_491877.jpg) > “Chemistry, until my childhood, not that long ago, was regarded as a calculating device. Because you couldn't reduce to physics. So it's just some way of calculating the result of experiments. The Bohr atom was treated that way.” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote reflects a view that chemistry was once seen as a mere calculation tool, lacking deeper physical reduction, illustrating a historical perception of the discipline. **In simple terms:** Chemistry once seemed just a calculation method. Key Takeaway Recognize chemistry’s deeper theoretical foundations. Themes science history philosophy of science Mood reflective analytical Type philosophical historical When to use this quote - education curricula - research methodology - interdisciplinary studies Key Concepts reductionism theory development Questions to Reflect On - How has chemistry’s status changed? - What limits arise from seeing chemistry as purely calculative? A Different Perspective This view may undervalue experimental insight. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atom/) [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Chemistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chemistry/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Experiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experiments/) [Long ago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-ago/) [Physics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/physics/) ## Related quotes > [“It isn't just that Bohr's atom with its electron "orbits" is a false picture; all pictures are false, and there is no physical analogy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gribbin/it-isn-t-just-that-bohr-s-atom-with-its-electron-orbits-is-a-false/) [John Gribbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gribbin/) > [“And at that age, the only boys I didn’t think were gross were dead scientists – and it’s not like I wanted to kiss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-cross/and-at-that-age-the-only-boys-i-didn-t-think-were-gross-were-dead/) [Sarah Cross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-cross/) > [ “Planck...and Bohr...have invented systems containing electrons of which the motion produces no effect upon external charges...\[N\]ot only \[is this\] inconsistent with the accepted laws… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-n-lewis/planck-and-bohr-have-invented-systems-containing-electrons-of-which/) G.N.Lewis > [“We walked up and down in the snow, I on skis and she on foot ( she said and proved that she could get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-robert-frisch/we-walked-up-and-down-in-the-snow-i-on-skis-and-she-on-foot-she-said/) Otto Robert Frisch > [Bohr's influence on the physics and the physicists of our century was stronger than that of anyone else, even than that of Albert Einstein.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/bohr-s-influence-on-the-physics-and-the-physicists-of-our-century-was/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [Somebody once asked Niels Bohr why he had a horseshoe hanging above the front door of his house. 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We even named…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-benford/fermi-turned-to-bohr-with-weary-eyes-and-a-slanted-smile-and-shrugged/) [Gregory Benford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-benford/) > [“Niels Bohr, the great Dane of quantum physics, was fond of saying, "It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/niels-bohr-the-great-dane-of-quantum-physics-was-fond-of-saying-it-is/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [ \[About the great synthesis of atomic physics in the 1920s:\] It was a heroic time. It was not the doing of any one man;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/about-the-great-synthesis-of-atomic-physics-in-the-1920s-it-was-a/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [“On his journey home from delivering his acceptance speech in Sweden the following summer, Einstein stopped in Copenhagen to see Bohr, who met him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-isaacson/on-his-journey-home-from-delivering-his-acceptance-speech-in-sweden/) [Walter Isaacson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-isaacson/) ## More by Noam Chomsky > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. 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Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. 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You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More Atom quotes > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [One atom is as purposeful as our planet. What is in one is in the whole.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/one-atom-is-as-purposeful-as-our-planet-what-is-in-one-is-in-the-whole/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [“In every atom, there is a reflection of the whole.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-woodman/in-every-atom-there-is-a-reflection-of-the-whole/) [Jay Woodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-woodman/) > [The laws of physics should allow us to arrange things molecule by molecule and even atom by atom, and at some point it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-merkle/the-laws-of-physics-should-allow-us-to-arrange-things-molecule-by/) [Ralph Merkle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-merkle/) > [“The void is 'not-being,' and no part of 'what is' is a 'not-being,'; for what 'is' in the strict sense of the term is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-void-is-not-being-and-no-part-of-what-is-is-a-not-being-for-what/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“There are over a million types of fish in the sea as there are flowers in all of the world's gardens. 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That’s kindergarten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/atoms-the-building-blocks-of-so-called-matter-however-much-they-might/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) [Browse all 53 Atom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Chemistry, until my childhood, not that long ago, was regarded as a calculating device. Because you couldn't reduce to physics. So it's just some way of calculating the result of experiments. 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