Skip to main content

Science Quote by Carl D. Anderson

"Information of fundamental importance to the general problem of atomic structure has resulted from systematic studies of the cosmic radiation carried out by the Wilson cloud-chamber method"

About this Quote

Anderson’s sentence is doing two jobs at once: staking a scientific claim and selling a method as the gateway to a new reality. The phrase "fundamental importance" isn’t casual boosterism; it’s a calibrated announcement that cosmic rays, once treated as a meteorological nuisance or exotic curiosity, have become a serious instrument for cracking open atomic structure. In the early 20th century, particle physics didn’t yet have the luxury of purpose-built accelerators. Nature supplied the beam. The subtext is pragmatic and slightly audacious: if you want to understand the atom, stop staring only at the lab apparatus and start reading the sky.

The clincher is his emphasis on "systematic studies" and the "Wilson cloud-chamber method". Anderson is defending credibility in a domain that could easily sound like cosmic mysticism. "Systematic" reassures skeptical peers that this isn’t hunting for oddities; it’s repeatable, disciplined measurement. The cloud chamber, with its ghostly condensation tracks, offered something scientists crave: visible evidence. You could point to a curling line on a plate and argue about charge, momentum, and interaction, not vibes.

Context matters because Anderson’s career is inseparable from this technique: the cloud chamber helped deliver the positron and made cosmic radiation a pipeline to new particles. The line reads like the field announcing its pivot from speculative models to track-based proof, with a quiet insistence that the universe itself is the lab bench.

Quote Details

TopicScience
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Anderson, Carl D. (2026, January 15). Information of fundamental importance to the general problem of atomic structure has resulted from systematic studies of the cosmic radiation carried out by the Wilson cloud-chamber method. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/information-of-fundamental-importance-to-the-162829/

Chicago Style
Anderson, Carl D. "Information of fundamental importance to the general problem of atomic structure has resulted from systematic studies of the cosmic radiation carried out by the Wilson cloud-chamber method." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/information-of-fundamental-importance-to-the-162829/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Information of fundamental importance to the general problem of atomic structure has resulted from systematic studies of the cosmic radiation carried out by the Wilson cloud-chamber method." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/information-of-fundamental-importance-to-the-162829/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Carl Add to List
Anderson on Cloud Chambers and Cosmic Rays
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

USA Flag

Carl D. Anderson (September 3, 1905 - January 11, 1991) was a Scientist from USA.

2 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes