Physicist Wolfgang Pauli commented on the appearance of certain numbers in physics, including the fine-structure constant, which he also noted approximates the prime number 137. This constant so intrigued him that he collaborated with psychoanalyst Carl Jung in a quest to understand its significance. Similarly, Max Born believed that if the value of α differed, the universe would degenerate, and thus that α = ⁠ 1 / 137 ⁠ is a law of nature.