When I was around thirty, I met my own personal challenge and finished a few marathons under three hours, and I have completed many long bicycle tours. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
When I run, I think about everything: physics, family problems, plans for the weekend. I haven’t made any big discoveries on a run, but it does give me time to think through problems. Some solutions are obvious, but they are only obvious when you are relaxed enough to find them. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
Bose and Einstein had triggered low-temperature experiments that have led to the discovery of new matter. I owe my work and my Nobel to them. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
When air is hot, the molecules move fast and they have high kinetic energy. The colder the molecules are, the smaller their velocities are and, subsequently, their energy. Temperature is simply a way to characterize the energy of a system. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
I used the Nobel money to buy a house and for the education of my children. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
Maybe if you win a Nobel Prize in economics, you make a lot of money by giving talks… but not in my area. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
I think both running and science reflect certain character traits. I have endurance, patience, and ambition. I’m willing to work hard toward a goal, to push myself and overcome limits. Running and science both let me express these traits. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
As a scientist, I play in the top league – the Olympics, the World Championships – and I want to be in the lead. As a runner, I set personal goals, and I want to push beyond my own personal limits. I was very happy when I practiced for several months and then reached my goal to run a marathon in 2:50. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
When I was running the marathons in Munich, I always trained by myself. Between the demands of graduate work and a young family, I had to train at unusual hours. A few times, I ran home from my lab late at night, which was 20 kilometers out of town. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
Imagine how many aspects of nature we would miss if we lived on the surface of the sun. Without inventing refrigerators, we would only know gaseous matter and never observe liquids or solids, and miss the beauty of snowflakes. Wolfgang Ketterle Read Quote
