Niels Bohr. Hans liv og virke fortalt af en kreds af venner og medarbejdere. Quotes

“As far as I remember these discussions took place in Copenhagen around September 1926 and in particular they left me with a very strong impression of Bohr's personality. For though Bohr was an unusually considerate and obliging person, he was able in such a discussion, which concerned epistemological problems which he considered to be of vital importance, to insist fanatically and with almost terrifying relentlessness on complete clarity in all arguments. He would not give up, even after hours of struggling, before Schrödinger had admitted that this interpretation was insufficient, and could not even explain Planck's law. Every attempt from Schrödinger's side to get round this bitter result was slowly refuted point by point in infinitely laborious discussions. It was perhaps from over-exertion that after a few days Schrödinger became ill and had to lie abed as a guest in Bohr's home.
[Werner Heisenberg: Quantum Theory and Its Interpretation]”
― Stefan Rozental, Niels Bohr. Hans liv og virke fortalt af en kreds af venner og medarbejdere.

“On one of the evenings, we all gathered at the mansion at Carlsberg in surroundings which for all those present were intimately linked with so many rich memories. After the Bohr family had moved into this house in 1932, it began to play an important part in the life of the Institute. Several times a year the whole staff came to the big Christmas tree. But mainly we thought of the hours when, undisturbed by the normal bustle at the Institute, we had sat in private with Niels Bohr and discussed problems either of physics or of a more general character.

It was from this every-day contact that one acquired so much pleasure and instruction. But there were also the festive occasions, either within a small circle or in company with interesting foreign guests. After the meal, we used to settle down in a corner of the large drawing-room and there Bohr might lead the conversation onto those unexpected topics which were just then on his mind, often inspired by the books he had read, or a personality he had met and from whom he had learned something new. Sometimes Bohr disappeared for a time into his study with one of the guests to exchange ideas and to explain his views more clearly in seclusion.

It was not only physicists who were invited to this hospitable. The mansion had through the years become an important centre in the cultural life of the country, not least by reason of Bohr's contacts abroad. There were authors, both Danish and foreign; they all enjoyed hospitality in this home create by Margrethe and Niels Bohr together, a home which was permeated by their own personalities. One could not avoid being stimulated by the inspiring surroundings and the vital atmosphere of the Bohr home, where serious discussion harmonized with artistic experience, with music or reading aloud, and also with games and jokes.”
― Stefan Rozental, Niels Bohr. Hans liv og virke fortalt af en kreds af venner og medarbejdere.