Ernst Ruska

Ernst August Friedrich Ruska (25 December 1906 – 27 May 1988) was a German physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 for his work in electron optics, including the design of the first electron microscope.

Quotes

• In electron microscopy, the difficulties took considerably more time to surmount, and therefore the doubters held the field for a longer period. I can, however, also confirm from my own experience the observation of my colleagues that the doubt of the others has the advantage of leaving the field uncrowded. Mostly, this is understood only much later, in the beginning one is very disappointed.
  • On the advantage of facing doubt when one has discovered something new. Speech at the Nobel Banquet, December 10, 1986.

• Das Lichtmikroskop öffnete das erste Tor zum Mikrokosmos. Das Elektronenmikroskop öffnete das zweite Tor zum Mikrokosmos. Was werden wir finden wenn wir das dritte Tor öffnen?
  • The light microscope opened the first gate to microcosm. The electron microscope opened the second gate to microcosm. What will we find opening the third gate?
    • as quoted by Nan Yao, director of the Imaging and Analysis Center at the Princeton Materials Institute, in the Princeton Weekly Bulletin, February 26, 2001, Vol. 90, No. 18.