As quoted by Freeman Dyson, "Seeing the Unseen," New York Review of Books (Feb. 24, 2005), quoting Rutherford in the London Daily Herald
“
We're like children who always want to take apart watches to see how they work.
— Ernest Rutherford
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "We're like children who always want to take apart watches to see how they work." in the context of "As quoted by Freeman Dyson, "Seeing the Unseen," New York Review of Books (Feb. 24, 2005), quoting Rutherford in the London Daily Herald" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Ernest Rutherford" (Quotes: listed in chronological order)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM PC FRS (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nuclear physics", and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday". In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances." He was the first Oceanian Nobel laureate, and the first to perform the awarded work in Canada.
About Ernest Rutherford
Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson, OM PC FRS (30 August 1871 – 19 October 1937) was a New Zealand physicist who was a pioneering researcher in both atomic and nuclear physics. He has been described as "the father of nuclear physics", and "the greatest experimentalist since Michael Faraday". In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances." He was the first Oceanian Nobel laureate, and the first to perform the awarded work in Canada.
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