Charles Francis Richter Quotes

A radio telescope pointing at the sky receives radiation not only from space, but also from other sources including the ground, the earth's atmosphere, and the components of the radio telescope itself.

There is no greater mystery to me than that of light traveling through darkness.

For X-rays, the phenomenon of diffraction by crystals was a natural consequence of the idea that X-rays are waves analogous to light and differ from it only by having a smaller wavelength.

You have to understand the nature of light.

Are not rays of light very small bodies emitted from shining substances?

I am interested in the physicality of light itself.

To some degree, to control light, I have to have a way to form it, so I use form almost like the stretcher bar of a canvas.

I look at light as a material. It is physical. It is photons. Yes, it exhibits wave behavior, but it is a thing.

Magnitude may be compared to the power output in kilowatts of a [radio] broadcasting station; local intensity, on the Mercalli or similar scale, is then comparable to the signal strength noted on a receiver at a given locality. Intensity, like signal strength, will generally fall off with distance from the source; it will also depend on local conditions at the point of observation, and to some extent on the conditions along the path from source to that point.

He hits the ball a long way and he knows how to win.

The speed of light sucks.

The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles.

We are very isolated, far from boyfriends and friends, so we have to be strong, smart and very professional.

Light in Nature creates the movement of colors.

If diffraction or interference phenomena were to be sought it was therefore necessary, in accordance with the basic principles of wave theory, to select for the test arrangement far smaller decisive dimensions than those employed in corresponding tests with visible light.

Mark Horowitz and I built it onto an optical bench in the lab. We spent and eight-hour span putting this optical light path together.

With radio, the listener absorbs everything.

The model I came up with in 1964 is just the invention of a rather strange sort of medium that looks the same in all directions and produces a kind of refraction that is a little bit more complicated than that of light in glass or water.

I really admire people who have long-distance relationships. It's an incredible achievement. I couldn't do it.

If you had a good radio - and everybody did in those days - you could find it.

I can't hit a ball more than 200 yards. I have no butt. You need a butt if you're going to hit a golf ball.

I was in the back part of the bunker, so I had to carry the whole bunker. It was probably 20 yards.

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

The strongest absorbs the weakest, and he has a right to do so.

An antenna collects radiation from a desired direction incident upon an area, called its collecting area, and focuses it on a receiver. An antenna is normally designed to maximize its response in the direction in which it is pointed and minimize its response in other directions.