Germany
Max Planck
said
It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.
— Is the external world real?, p. 83
Max Planck
German theoretical physicist (1858–1947)
- Fame83.4
- Momentum0.0
- Germany rank#24
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Summary
Updated 2026-07-17
He cracked open the atom not by smashing it but by solving a puzzle about glowing metal — and the answer, energy quanta, broke physics so thoroughly that the universe has never looked continuous since.
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Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck was a German theoretical physicist born 23 April 1858. Working on the problem of blackbody radiation, he discovered that energy isn't infinitely divisible — it comes in discrete packets, quanta — a finding that earned him the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics and launched quantum theory. From that insight he derived the Planck constant, h, now foundational to all quantum mechanics, and used it to define a set of natural units expressed purely in physical constants. He later served twice as President of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, which after his death on 4 October 1947 w…
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Sourced, dated quotes from Max Planck
Max Planck
said
Again and again the imaginary plan on which one attempts to build up that order breaks down and then we must try another.
— Epilogue, p. 215
Max Planck
said
I also knew the formula that expresses the energy distribution in the normal spectrum. A theoretical interpretation therefore had to be found at any cost, no matter how high.
— Letter to (October 7, 1931) in Archive for the History of Quantum Physics, Microfilm 66, 5, as cited in Thomas S. Kuhn, Black-Body Theory
Max Planck
said
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness.
— The Observer (London, England) (25 January 1931), p. 17
Max Planck
said
We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.
— The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics (1931)
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Falling83.4
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Historical26.1
Now attention17.1
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
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- WikidataHigh confidencewikidata · wikidata.org
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- Pantheon 2.0High confidencedatabase · pantheon.world
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