My Favorite Science Quotes

"All our science, measured against reality, is primitive and childlike-and yet it is the most precious thing we have".-Albert Einstein

"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality".-Albert Einstein

"Scientists were rated as great heretics by the church, but they were truly religious men because of their faith in the orderliness of the universe".-Albert Einstein

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind".-Albert Einstein

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one".-Albert Einstein

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe".-Albert Einstein

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones".-Albert Einstein

"If quantum mechanics hasn't profoundly shocked you, you haven't understood it yet".-Niels Bohr

"No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical".-Niels Bohr

"We are all agreed that your theory is crazy. The question which divides us is whether it is crazy enough to have a chance of being correct. My own feeling is that it is not crazy enough".-Niels Bohr

"I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is purely destructive. We've created life in our own image".-Stephen W. Hawking

"My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the universe, why it is as it is and why it exists at all".-Stephen W. Hawking

"The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing"?-Stephen W. Hawking

"We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special".-Stephen W. Hawking

"That theory is worthless. It isn't even wrong"!-Wolfgang Pauli

"To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I confess, absurd in the highest degree".-Charles Darwin

Note: I absolutely love this quote!! Even Darwin himself recognized the complexity of the human body, and this was before the cell was even discovered! If he knew the complexity that we have discovered at this point in time, I am positive he would have renounced his own theory....

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do".-Galileo Galilei

"I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses".-Johann Kepler

"For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring".-Carl Sagan

"I am often amazed at how much more capability and enthusiasm for science there is among elementary school youngsters than among college students".-Carl Sagan

"Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward; for there you have been, there you long to return".-Leonardo da Vinci

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science".-Edwin Hubble

Facts About my Beloved City of Buffalo

Those of you who know me know that I got mad love for my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I think it's the greatest city there is, although many consider it to be a dying city, it is the PEOPLE of Buffalo which make it so special. Although I'm stuck in Minnesota at the moment, I'm trying to get back to Buffalo after I complete my medical residency here. This will hopefully soon become a reality as I am interviewing at several places in and around Buffalo in the next few months for my Infectious Diseases fellowship (including Buffalo, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio).
In the meantime, I present to you some interesting facts about the great city of Buffalo, NY:

1. Buffalo is New York State's 2nd largest city (next to NYC of course).

2. In 2005, Buffalo was named the 3rd cleanest city in the U.S. by Reader's Digest.

3. In 2001, Buffalo was the winner of U.S.A. Today's "City with a Heart" contest as the friendliest city in the U.S.

4. In the early 1800's, Buffalo almost had it's name changed to "New Amsterdam."

5. During the War of 1812, a majority of Buffalo was burned to the ground by the conquering British troops.

6. In the mid-1800's, Buffalo was instrumental in freeing escaping slaves from the south via the Underground Railroad, where they would stay until they could escape on a ferry to Fort Erie, across the way in neighboring Canada.

7. In the latter part of the 1800's, due to the hydroelectric power generated by nearby Niagara Falls, Buffalo became one of the first cities in the U.S. to have city-wide electrical lighting and power. Buffalo was also the first U.S. city to light its streets with electricity.

8. Buffalo is definitely not all about snow and cold weather. It only averages 3 days per year below 0 degrees Farenheit (of course that's without the wind chill factor). In the summertime, it is the sunniest and driest of all cities in the Northeast U.S., and can get hot in the summertime (hence why a large portion of us have central air conditioning). Although not too hot, for in fact Buffalo's official weather station has never recorded a temperature over 100 degrees Farenheit, only one of three U.S. cities to do so (the others are Honolulu, Hawaii and Miami, Florida). As well, because of the nice summers, Buffalo has the highest per-capita number of private swimming pools out of any city in the U.S.

9. The windshield wiper was invented in Buffalo (haha too bad they don't really work in the winter too well when they're frozen!).

10. Delaware Park (between Delaware Ave. and Elmwood) was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, said to be modeled after Olmstead's design of Central Park in NYC. As well, there are five buildings in Buffalo designed by the famous Frank Lloyd Wright, the most buildings out of any U.S. City.

11. Tim Russert of "Meet the Press" and Wolf Blitzer of CNN are both from Buffalo.

12. Buffalo is the smallest city in the U.S. to have an underground subway system.

13. All the Cheerios are made in Buffalo.

14. There are more bagels made in Buffalo than in any U.S. city (including NYC!).

15. Kleinhans' Music Hall is one of the only acoustically perfect buildings in the world.