Eugene Wigner
said
Where in the Schrödinger equation do you put the joy of being alive?
— As quoted by Freeman Dyson from a private conversation, Infinite in All Directions (1988)
Eugene Wigner
Hungarian-American physicist and mathematician (1902–1995)
- Fame64.7
- Momentum0.0
- Academics rank#244
Source-basedFalling
- Fame64.7
- Momentum0.0
- Academics rank#244
- Wikipedia11.5K
Lived 1902–1995, aged 93
AcademicsAcademic
Network
In their orbit
People connected to Eugene Wigner
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08
He brought group theory into physics and helped design the first reactors to turn uranium into plutonium — then spent his later years wondering why mathematics works so unreasonably well at describing the universe.
Biography
About
Born in Hungary in 1902, Wigner studied at the Technical Hochschule Berlin and worked under Hilbert at Göttingen before Princeton recruited him in 1930. With Hermann Weyl, he introduced group theory and symmetry principles into physics, work that earned him the 1963 Nobel Prize for contributions to atomic nucleus and elementary particle theory. In 1939 he sat in the meeting with Szilard and Einstein that produced the letter prompting Roosevelt to investigate nuclear weapons; during the Manhattan Project he led the team designing reactors to convert uranium into weapons-grade plutonium, though…
Voice
In their own words
Sourced, dated quotes from Eugene Wigner
Eugene Wigner
said
A possible explanation of the physicist's use of mathematics to formulate his laws of nature is that he is a somewhat irresponsible person.
— "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences," Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, February 1960.
Eugene Wigner
said
The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift which we neither understand nor deserve.
— "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences," Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, February 1960,
Eugene Wigner
said
A deep sense of humor and an unusual ability for telling stories and jokes endeared Johnny even to casual acquaintances. He could be blunt when necessary, but was never pompous.
— Biographical memoir: "John von Neumann (1903 - 1957)" in Year book of the American Philosophical Society (1958); later in Symmetries and
Eugene Wigner
saidundated
In science, it is not speed that is the most important.
— in an interview by
Gallery
Photos
8 images · refresh overdue
Where to find them
Platforms
No platforms connected yet.
By the numbers
Score breakdown
The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.
Fame
Falling64.7
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Historical24.4
Source confidence60.0
Completeness60.0
Receipts
Sources
- WikipediaHigh confidencewikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
Discover
You might know
Similar profiles worth watching
.jpg?width=1200)
.jpg?width=1200)
