Question 35: Try to find a definition for coincidence.

Albert Einstein (1897 - 1955): Coincidence is not possible: “God does not throw dice.”

Andreas Bauch, PTB Working Group "Unit of time": Coincidence is always involved. And most surely when I lose.

Werner Heisenberg (1901 - 1976): “Is there a possibility for what is possible – that is the aim to be reached – to influence causal sequences? This, however, again leads us to the field of quantum theory, as the wave function represents what is possible and not what is factual. In other words: maybe coincidence, which plays such an important part in Darwin’s theory, is much more subtle than we imagine, because it submits itself to the laws of quantum mechanics.”

Reinhard Scherm, former PTB Department "Fundamentals of Physics and Metrology": Toni is doing his practical course: a weakly radioactive source produces cracking in a loudspeaker. Toni is to record the arrival time for 200 events and then to paint at home distributions of Poisson statistics.
A - 04.30 p.m. First bleep. At 05.03 Toni has finished his first 200 bleeps, packs up his things and goes to the pub to play cards until midnight.
B – Let’s repeat the experiment! 04.30 p.m. First bleep. At 05.05 Toni has finished his first 200 bleeps, packs up his things – suddenly a female student arrives who has lost her pocket calculator. They are looking for it, finally they find it.... and the evening ends up quite differently.

Uwe Keyser, former PTB Department "Focal Points of Experimental Research": The description of a fact we cannot yet explain.
Speaking in the words of a German classical author, Heinrich von Kleist: " I hail you, great mind 500 years in the future ..."

Hermann von Helmholtz (1821 - 1894): Coincidence in reality is only the term for the insufficiency of our knowledge and the clumsiness of our powers of deduction. A mind which would have exact knowledge of the facts and whose thought processes would be fast and precise enough to be ahead of future events, would see the harmonic reign of eternal laws – which we can only presuppose and suspect - in the wildest capriciousness of weather as well as in the movement of the stars.”

Ernst O. Göbel, President of the PTB: Coincidence is the demonstration of the laws of statistics

Annette Paul, PTB Working Group "Environmental radioactivity": Coincidence is an unpredictable and non-reproducible event.

Gesine Grosche, PTB Working Group "Unit of Length": Coincidence is necessary.