John Charles Polanyi Quotes

A collection of quotes by John Charles Polanyi.

John Charles Polanyi is a renowned Canadian chemist and Nobel laureate. He was born on January 23, 1929, in Berlin, Germany, and later migrated to Canada with his family in 1940. Polanyi obtained his bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Manchester, followed by his doctorate from the same institution in 1952.

Throughout his career, Polanyi made significant contributions to the field of chemical kinetics, particularly focusing on the investigation of molecular reactions. Alongside his colleagues, he devised an innovative technique known as infrared chemiluminescence, which made it possible to study microscopic chemical reactions in detail. His groundbreaking work led to fundamental advancements in understanding chemical dynamics, reaction mechanisms, and energy transfer.

Polanyi's notable contributions to scientific research earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1986. He shared this honor with Dudley R. Herschbach and Yuan T. Lee for their pioneering research on gas-phase chemical reactions. This recognition solidified Polanyi's status as one of the prominent figures in the field of physical chemistry.

Apart from his scientific pursuits, Polanyi has actively advocated for peace and arms control. He has spoken out against nuclear weapons and participated in various initiatives promoting disarmament and international cooperation. His dedication to scientific progress and societal issues has made him an influential figure both within and outside the scientific community.

The scientific and scholarly community is marked by the beli

The scientific and scholarly community is marked by the belief that the truth is to be found in all; none can claim it as their monopoly.

John Charles Polanyi

Truth Belief Community

For scholarship - if it is to be scholarship - requires, in

For scholarship - if it is to be scholarship - requires, in addition to liberty, that the truth take precedence over all sectarian interests, including self-interest.

John Charles Polanyi

Truth Liberty Self

Instead, in the absence of respect for human rights, science

Instead, in the absence of respect for human rights, science and its offspring technology have been used in this century as brutal instruments for oppression.

John Charles Polanyi

Technology Science Rights Absence

Better to die in the pursuit of civilized values, we believe

Better to die in the pursuit of civilized values, we believed, than in a flight underground. We were offering a value system couched in the language of science.

John Charles Polanyi

The respect for human rights, essential if we are to use tec

The respect for human rights, essential if we are to use technology wisely, is not something alien that must be grafted onto science. On the contrary, it is integral to science, as also to scholarship in general.

John Charles Polanyi

Science gives us a powerful vocabulary, and it is impossible

Science gives us a powerful vocabulary, and it is impossible to produce a vocabulary with which one can only say nice things.

John Charles Polanyi

Some dreamers demand that scientists only discover things th

Some dreamers demand that scientists only discover things that can be used for good.

John Charles Polanyi

Though neglectful of their responsibility to protect science

Though neglectful of their responsibility to protect science, scientists are increasingly aware of their responsibility to society.

John Charles Polanyi

Today, Academies of Science use their influence around the w

Today, Academies of Science use their influence around the world in support of human rights.

John Charles Polanyi

The most exciting thing in the twentieth century is science.

The most exciting thing in the twentieth century is science.

John Charles Polanyi

Others think it the responsibility of scientists to coerce t

Others think it the responsibility of scientists to coerce the rest of society, because they have the power that derives from special knowledge.

John Charles Polanyi

When, as we must often do, we fear science, we really fear o

When, as we must often do, we fear science, we really fear ourselves.

John Charles Polanyi

Science never gives up searching for truth, since it never c

Science never gives up searching for truth, since it never claims to have achieved it.

John Charles Polanyi

For science must breathe the oxygen of freedom.

For science must breathe the oxygen of freedom.

John Charles Polanyi

Freedom Science

Young people ask me if this country is serious about science

Young people ask me if this country is serious about science. They aren't thinking about the passport that they will hold, but the country that they must rely on for support and encouragement.

John Charles Polanyi

Scientia is knowledge. It is only in the popular mind that i

Scientia is knowledge. It is only in the popular mind that it is equated with facts.

John Charles Polanyi

Science exists, moreover, only as a journey toward troth. St

Science exists, moreover, only as a journey toward troth. Stifle dissent and you end that journey.

John Charles Polanyi

It is this, at its most basic, that makes science a humane p

It is this, at its most basic, that makes science a humane pursuit it acknowledges the commonality of people's experience.

John Charles Polanyi

A new sense of shared international responsibility is unmist

A new sense of shared international responsibility is unmistakable in the voices of the United Nations and its agencies, and in the civil society of thousands of supra-national NGOs.

John Charles Polanyi

Human dignity is better served by embracing knowledge.

Human dignity is better served by embracing knowledge.

John Charles Polanyi