Anton Zeilinger, Einstein's Photons (2012)
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My favorite deep, elegant and beautiful explanation is Albert Einstein's 1905 proposal that light consists of energy quanta, today called photons. Actually, it is little known, even among physicists, but extremely interesting how Einstein came to this position. It is often said that Einstein invented the concept to explain the photoelectric effect. Certainly, that is part of Einstein's 1905 publication, but only towards its end. The idea itself is much deeper, more elegant and, yes, more beautiful.

— Anton Zeilinger on Photon

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "My favorite deep, elegant and beautiful explanation is Albert Einstein's 1905 proposal that light consists of energy quanta, today called photons. Actually, it is little known, even among physicists, but extremely interesting how Einstein came to this position. It is often said that Einstein invented the concept to explain the photoelectric effect. Certainly, that is part of Einstein's 1905 publication, but only towards its end. The idea itself is much deeper, more elegant and, yes, more beautiful." in the context of "Anton Zeilinger, Einstein's Photons (2012)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Photon" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Anton Zeilinger

About Anton Zeilinger

Anton Zeilinger (born 20 May 1945) is an Austrian quantum physicist. He is currently professor of physics at the University of Vienna and director of the Vienna branch of the Institute for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information IQOQI at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Zeilinger works in the new field of quantum information and is renowned for his realization of quantum teleportation with photons.