Trivia

Quotes by Experts, later proved terribly wrong.

Aeroplanes are interesting toys but are of no military value. - Maréchal Ferdinand Foch, 1911

The Edsel is here to stay. - Henry Ford II, 1957

The Titanic is well able to withstand almost any exterior damage and could keep afloat indefinitely after being struck. - P. Franklin, Vice President, International Mercantile Marine, April 15th 1912

I do not consider Hitler to be as bad as he is depicted. He is showing an ability that is amazing and he seems to be gaining his victories without much bloodshed. - Mahatma Gandhi, 1940

If excessive smoking actually plays a role in the production of lung cancer, it seems to be a minor one. - Dr. W. C. Heuper, National Cancer Institute, 1954

Rail travel at high speed is not possible because passengers, unable to breathe, would die of axphyxia. - Professor Dionysus Lardner, 1830

Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within ten years. - Alex Lewyt, vacuum cleaner manufacturer, 1957

Inventions reached their limit long ago and I see no hope for further development. - Julius Sextus Frontinus, prominent Roman engineer (c. 40-103 AD)

640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates, 1981

The machine gun is a much overrated weapon; two per battalion is more than sufficient. - General Douglas Haig, 1915

I have not the smallest molecule of faith in aerial navigation other than ballooning. - Lord Kelvin, President of Royal Society, 1890

X-Rays will prove to be a hoax. - Lord Kelvin, President of Royal Society, 1895

Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. - Lord Kelvin, President of Royal Society, 1896

Radio has no future. - Lord Kelvin, President of Royal Society, 1898

This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The bomb will never go off, and I speak as an expert in explosives. - Admiral William D. Leahy, on the atomic bomb, 1945

This fool wishes to reverse the entire science of astronomy; but the sacred scripture tells us that Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, not the earth. - Martin Luther, 1540

I can accept the theory of relativity as little as I can accept the existence of atoms and other such dogma. - Professor Ernst Mach (as in speed-of-sound measurement), 1913

The Internet will catastrophically collapse in 1996. - Robert Metcalfe, internet inventor (date unknown)

There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom. The glib supposition of utilizing atomic energy when our coal has run out is a completely unscientific Utopian dream, a childish bug-a-boo. Nature has introduced a few fool-proof devices into the great majority of elements that constitute the bulk of the world, and they have no energy to give up in the process of disintegration. - Robert Millikan, Nobel prize winner in physics, 1920

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