"The Laboratory for Radioactivity consisted of only two rooms at the time; at a later date, when tests of radioactive substances became more extensive, it expanded into four rooms"
About this Quote
The intent is partly documentary. Bothe, a key figure in early nuclear and cosmic-ray research, is situating radioactivity as a practice that metastasized quickly in the early 20th century: more sources to handle, more detectors to calibrate, more shielding, more protocols, more people. The understated phrasing makes the escalation feel inevitable, almost banal - which is the point. Radioactivity moved from curiosity to system. Once you can test, you must test; once you can quantify, you must refine.
Subtext: scientific authority is built in rooms. Space stands in for funding, institutional commitment, and the growing seriousness (and hazard) of the work. “Only two rooms” implies a scrappy beginning; “expanded” signals recognition and demand, but also an encroaching complexity that can’t be solved by brilliance alone. It’s a reminder that breakthroughs ride on carpentry, budgets, and containment - the mundane scaffolding behind epochal shifts.
Contextually, it reflects an era when radioactivity was reshaping physics into big, equipment-driven science, where progress looked less like a eureka moment and more like needing another room.
Quote Details
| Topic | Science |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bothe, Walther. (2026, January 17). The Laboratory for Radioactivity consisted of only two rooms at the time; at a later date, when tests of radioactive substances became more extensive, it expanded into four rooms. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-laboratory-for-radioactivity-consisted-of-72083/
Chicago Style
Bothe, Walther. "The Laboratory for Radioactivity consisted of only two rooms at the time; at a later date, when tests of radioactive substances became more extensive, it expanded into four rooms." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-laboratory-for-radioactivity-consisted-of-72083/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The Laboratory for Radioactivity consisted of only two rooms at the time; at a later date, when tests of radioactive substances became more extensive, it expanded into four rooms." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-laboratory-for-radioactivity-consisted-of-72083/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.
