100+ Famous Chemist Quotes and Sayings

A chemist is a scientist who specializes in the field of chemistry, which is the branch of science that studies the composition, structure, properties, and changes of matter. Chemists are involved in a wide range of activities related to the understanding and manipulation of chemical substances. They work in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, materials science, environmental science, food science, and more.

Chemists may be involved in:

• Research: Chemists conduct experiments and studies to discover new compounds, understand chemical reactions, and develop new materials or products.
• Analysis: They analyze the composition of substances using various techniques, such as spectroscopy, chromatography, and mass spectrometry, to identify and quantify chemical components.
• Formulation: Chemists develop and formulate products such as pharmaceutical drugs, cosmetics, and industrial chemicals.
• Quality Control: They ensure the quality and safety of products by testing and verifying their chemical properties.
• Environmental Protection: Some chemists focus on environmental chemistry, studying the impact of chemicals on the environment and working on ways to mitigate pollution and promote sustainability.
• Education: Many chemists work in academia as professors or teachers, educating the next generation of scientists.
• Regulatory Compliance: Chemists may work with regulatory agencies to ensure that products and processes comply with safety and environmental regulations.

Chemistry is a broad field, and chemists can specialize in various subdisciplines, such as organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, physical chemistry, analytical chemistry, and biochemistry, among others. Their work is essential in advancing science and technology, improving our understanding of the natural world, and developing new innovations that benefit society.

Antoine Lavoisier – The Father of Modern Chemistry

Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French chemist widely regarded as the “father of modern chemistry.” He recognized and named oxygen and hydrogen, helped construct the metric system, and discovered the role of oxygen in combustion. Lavoisier was a pioneer of stoichiometry and developed a system of chemical nomenclature. Tragically, he was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. Here are some notable Lavoisier quotes:

• “We must trust to nothing but facts: These are presented to us by Nature, and cannot deceive. We ought, in every instance, to submit our reasoning to the test of experiment, and never to search for truth but by the natural road of experiment and observation.”
• “I am young and avid for glory.” – Lavoisier’s last words before being executed.
• “It took them only an instant to cut off that head, and a hundred years may not produce another like it.” – Mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange on Lavoisier’s execution.

Marie Curie – Pioneering Physicist and Chemist

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a Polish-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person and only woman to win the Nobel Prize twice. Her discoveries launched effective cures for cancer. Some famous Marie Curie quotes:

• “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.”
• “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
• “One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”
• “I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy.”
• “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”

Rosalind Franklin – The Overlooked DNA Pioneer

Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal, and graphite. Her research and data were key to the discovery of the DNA double helix, for which James Watson, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in 1962, four years after her untimely death at age 37. Some Rosalind Franklin quotes that capture her spirit:

• “Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”
• “In my view, all that is necessary for faith is the belief that by doing our best we shall succeed in our aims: the improvement of mankind.”
• “You look at science (or at least talk of it) as some sort of demoralizing invention of man, something apart from real life, and which must be cautiously guarded and kept separate from everyday existence. But science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.”

Linus Pauling – Quantum Chemist and Peace Activist

Linus Pauling (1901-1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. Pauling was one of the founders of the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. He is the only person to be awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes – the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. Here are some thought-provoking Linus Pauling quotes:

• “Science is the search for truth – it is not a game in which one tries to beat his opponent, to do harm to others.”
• “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”
• “Facts are the air of scientists. Without them you can never fly.”
• “Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.”

Humphry Davy – Electrolysis Pioneer

Humphry Davy (1778-1829) was a British chemist and inventor who isolated several chemical elements for the first time, including potassium and sodium in 1807 and calcium, strontium, barium, magnesium and boron the following year, as well as discovering the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine. He also studied the forces involved in these separations, inventing the new field of electrochemistry. Some insightful Humphry Davy quotes:

• “Language is not only the vehicle of thought, it is a great and efficient instrument in thinking.”
• “Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort.”
• “The most important of my discoveries have been suggested to me by my failures.”

Dmitri Mendeleev – Creator of the Periodic Table

Dmitri Mendeleev (1834-1907) was a Russian chemist most famous for his work on the periodic table; arranging the 63 known elements into a Periodic Table based on their atomic mass. He also predicted the discovery of other elements and left spaces open in his periodic table for them. Here are some wise words from Mendeleev:

• “There is nothing in this world that I fear to say. No one or anything can silence me.”
• “The establishment of a law, moreover, does not take place when the first thought of it takes form, or even when its significance is recognized, but only when it has been confirmed by the results of the experiment.”
• “It is the function of science to discover the existence of a general reign of order in nature and to find the causes governing this order. And this refers in equal measure to the relations of man – social and political – and to the entire universe as a whole.”

Irène Joliot-Curie – Following in Her Mother’s Footsteps

Irène Joliot-Curie (1897-1956) was a French chemist, physicist and a politician of partly Polish ancestry, the daughter of Marie Curie and Pierre Curie and the wife of Frédéric Joliot-Curie. Jointly with her husband, Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Some notable quotes from Irène Joliot-Curie:

• “That one must do some work seriously and must be independent and not merely amuse oneself in life—this our mother has told us always, but never that science was the only career worth following.”
• “We have to make a choice between two possibilities: Either we build a new society, or there will be no society at all.”

Dorothy Hodgkin – Mapping Molecules

Dorothy Hodgkin (1910-1994) was a British chemist who developed protein crystallography, for which she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964. She advanced the technique of X-ray crystallography, a method used to determine the three-dimensional structures of biomolecules. Among her most influential discoveries are the confirmation of the structure of penicillin and the structure of vitamin B12. Some Dorothy Hodgkin quotes showcasing her passion for science:

• “I first met the subject of X-ray diffraction of crystals in the pages of the book W. H. Bragg wrote for school children in 1925, ‘Concerning the Nature of Things’. In this, diamonds, snowflakes, and common salt are pictured as patterns of balls that illustrate fundamental properties of crystals.”
• “I used to say the evening that I developed the first x-ray photograph I took of insulin in 1935 was the most exciting moment of my life. But the Saturday afternoon in late July 1969, when we realized that the insulin electron density map was interpretable, runs that moment very close.”

Stephanie Kwolek – Kevlar Inventor

Stephanie Kwolek (1923-2014) was an American chemist whose research on synthetic fibers led to the development of poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide, better known as Kevlar. She was a pioneer in polymer chemistry and the first woman to be awarded DuPont’s Lavoisier Medal for outstanding technical achievement. Here are some inspiring Stephanie Kwolek quotes:

• “I discovered over the years that I seem to see things other people did not see. If things don’t work out I don’t just throw them away, I struggle over them, to try and see if there’s something there.”
• “All sorts of things can happen when you’re open to new ideas and playing around with things.”
• “I don’t think there’s anything like saving someone’s life to bring you satisfaction and happiness.” – On the use of Kevlar in bulletproof vests.

Gertrude B. Elion – Drug Discovery Innovator

Gertrude Belle Elion (1918-1999) was an American biochemist and pharmacologist who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with George H. Hitchings and Sir James Black for their methods of rational drug design for the development of new drugs. Her work led to the development of the AIDS drug AZT. Some wise words from Gertrude B. Elion:

• “I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of cancer. I decided nobody should suffer that much.”
• “Don’t be afraid of hard work. Nothing worthwhile comes easily. Don’t let others discourage you or tell you that you can’t do it.”
• “The Nobel Prize is fine, but the drugs I’ve developed are rewards in themselves.”

Percy Julian – Overcoming Adversity

Percy Lavon Julian (1899-1975) was an American research chemist and a pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants. He was the first to synthesize the natural product physostigmine and was a pioneer in the industrial large-scale chemical synthesis of the human hormones progesterone and testosterone from plant sterols. Some powerful Percy Julian quotes:

• “I have had one goal in my life, that of playing some role in making life a little easier for the persons who come after me.”
• “I have never been particularly impressed by the great names and reputations of those who might be trying to beat me down. I have fought against the odds and I have won for one single reason: I have never accepted the defeatist concept that my place in life is measured by the ill-will of those who would hold me back.”

Famous Chemist Quotes and Sayings

• “Chemistry is the science between perception and imagination.” – Henri Poincaré
• “Chemistry can be a good and bad thing. Chemistry is good when you make love with it. Chemistry is bad when you make crack with it.” – Adam Sandler
• “Chemistry is necessarily an experimental science: its conclusions are drawn from data, and its principles supported by evidence from facts.” – Michael Faraday
• “Chemistry means the difference between poverty and starvation and the abundant life.” – Robert H. Whitehead
• “The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.” – Werner Heisenberg
• “To me, chemistry is the most important science. We know that it is the most important science because it gives us power over all things.” – Gilbert N. Lewis
• “In chemistry, our theories are crutches; to show that they are valid, they must be used to walk… The more interesting the path, the more dangerous the crutches. Hence their subjectivity, hence their brilliance.” – Warren S. McCulloch
• “All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.” – Paracelsus
• “The best way to learn about molecules is to think about them.” – Linus Pauling
• “If you want to learn about molecules, touch them.” – George Wald
• “The atoms of the glass-maker, on the other hand, are not transformed; they are destroyed.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
• “Organic chemistry is the chemistry of carbon compounds. Biochemistry is the study of carbon compounds that crawl.” – Mike Adams
• “No inanimate object is ever fully determined by the laws of physics and chemistry.” – Michael Polanyi
• “Chemistry is the science of change.” – Linus Pauling
• “In chemistry, there are no shortcuts to truth.” – Karl Popper
• “Chemistry has been termed by the physicist as the messy part of physics, but that is no reason why the physicists should be permitted to make a mess of chemistry when they invade it.” – Frederick Soddy
• “The pleasure of working in chemistry is not surpassed by any other pleasure in this world.” – Julius Lothar Meyer
• “Nature is relentless and unchangeable, and it is indifferent as to whether its hidden reasons and actions are understandable to man or not.” – Galileo Galilei
• “Chemistry is a trade for people who don’t have the charisma to work with irrational numbers.” – John E. Pearson
• “The chemistry of dissatisfaction is as the chemistry of some marvelously potent tar. In it are the building stones of explosives, stimulants, poisons, opiates, perfumes, and stenches.” – Eric Hoffer
• “Chemistry is necessarily an experimental science: its conclusions are drawn from data, and its principles supported by evidence from facts.” – Michael Faraday
• “In chemistry, our theories are crutches; to show that they are valid, they must be used to walk… The more interesting the path, the more dangerous the crutches. Hence their subjectivity, hence their brilliance.” – Warren S. McCulloch
• “Chemistry is the study of matter, but I prefer to see it as the study of change.” – Walter White (fictional character from “Breaking Bad”)
• “A chemical reaction is like a love affair: if you have the right components, it can be hot and passionate; if you have the wrong components, it can fizzle out and leave you frustrated.” – Henry H. Bauer
• “Chemistry is the science of substances, their properties, structure, and transformations.” – Robert H. Crabtree
• “To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” – Mark Twain (while not a chemist, this quote reflects the scientific spirit of exploration)
• “In chemistry, there is a theory called valency, which means that the power of a certain element to combine with other elements depends on its atomic weight and its position in the periodic table.” – Mahatma Gandhi
• “Chemistry is a great enemy of cohesion and organization in the work of government. It is the source of half our legislation, and makes every committee a joke.” – Woodrow Wilson
• “Chemistry has a memory for what has happened, and it allows no change without keeping a record of what it was.” – Gilbert N. Lewis
• “Chemistry is the dirty part of physics.” – Hermann Staudinger
• “I love the way the universe works. I love the laws of chemistry. I love the world of molecules.” – Julius Axelrod
• “Chemistry is the science of matter, but I prefer to see it as the science of change.” – Peter Agre
• “Without mathematics, there’s nothing you can do. Everything around you is mathematics. Everything around you is numbers.” – Shakuntala Devi (not a chemist, but emphasizes the importance of math in science)
• “Chemistry is the science of substances, their properties, structure, and transformations.” – Robert H. Crabtree
• “The beauty of chemistry is that if it works, it works, and you don’t have to know why it works.” – Georg Christoph Lichtenberg
• “Chemistry can be a good and bad thing. Chemistry is good when you make love with it. Chemistry is bad when you make crack with it.” – Adam Sandler
• “The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.” – Werner Heisenberg
• “Chemistry is necessarily an experimental science: its conclusions are drawn from data, and its principles supported by evidence from facts.” – Michael Faraday
• “Chemistry means the difference between poverty and starvation and the abundant life.” – Robert H. Whitehead
• “The best way to learn about molecules is to think about them.” – Linus Pauling

Chemist quotes life

• “Life is a chemical reaction, it’s chemistry that keeps us alive.” – Bill Bryson
• “Life is a chemistry. Dilute your sorrows, evaporate your worries, filter your happiness, and you will find crystals of love.” – Unknown
• “Life is a chemical process, and you and I are just a complex set of chemical reactions.” – Walter White (fictional character from “Breaking Bad”)
• “Life is an adventure in forgiveness.” – Norman Cousins
• “Life is an adventure of passion, risk, danger, laughter, beauty, love; a burning curiosity to go with the action to see what it is all about, to go search for a pattern of meaning, to burn one’s bridges because you’re never going to go back anyway, and to live to the end.” – Saul D. Alinsky
• “Life is an exciting business, and most exciting when it is lived for others.” – Helen Keller
• “Life is about the moments you create, that you can keep with you forever. After everything is over, that is what we have or what we are left with.” – Nitya Prakash
• “Life is like a chemistry set. Sometimes you get the right mix, but most of the time it explodes in your face.” – Anthony T. Hincks
• “Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” – Rumi
• “Life is like a good black and white photograph, there’s black, there’s white, and lots of shades in between.” – Karl Heiner
• “Life is a chemistry, and I love chemistry.” – Marie Curie
• “Life is a series of collisions with the future; it is not the sum of what we have been, but what we yearn to be.” – José Ortega y Gasset
• “Life is a chemical reaction, and we’re all just molecules bumping into each other.” – Unknown
• “Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” – Rumi
• “Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” – Oliver Goldsmith
• “Life is a chemistry set; mix it up, try different things, and explore new combinations.” – Unknown
• “Life is a long lesson in humility.” – James M. Barrie
• “Life is a grand experiment, and you are the chemist.” – Unknown
• “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
• “Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.” – Danny Kaye