Anecdotes about Great Scientists

T A E R G T U S O T B S A I T N E I C S

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edited b

v Tomisla ski n a ć n e S ed by

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Milan ć Pavlovi

Contents

THALES 5 Philosopher and the Sky 5 DEMOCRITUS 6 Hippocrates and Democritus 6 ARISTOTLE 8 Expensive Ignorance 8 Futile Gossiping 9 High Cost 9 Speaking in Vain 9 EUCLID 10 No Royal Road for the King 10 Reason 10 JOHANNES KEPLER 11 Kepler’s Salad 11 BLAISE PASCAL 12 Absent Mindedness 12 Pascal Destroys a Barrel 13 ISAAC NEWTON 14 Motivation to Study 14 Newton’s Shortest Speech 15 The Scripture 15 Watch Instead of Egg 16

Recognition 17 Dining at Newton’s 18 It Didn’t Occur to Him 18 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 19 Right to Vote 19 PIERRE-SIMON LAPLACE 20 Godless 20 Laplace’s Diplomacy 21 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT 22 Humboldt Was Wrong 22 Completing Library 23 Humboldt and a Parrot 23 CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS 24 Don’t Play Games, Kid 24 Dad, You Were Wrong25 Two Questions 25 MICHAEL FARADAY 26 Appliances 26 Faraday at Restaurant 27 Davy’s Biggest Invention 28 What’s the Use 29 Chemical Weapons 29 Public Speaker 29

NIKOLAI IVANOVICH LOBACHEVSKY 30 Tippong the Scientist 30 CHARLES DARWIN 31 Darwin’s Home 31 Darwin’s Turtle 32 A Bug Lover 33

ROBERT KOCH 42 Incurable Disease 42 WILHELM CONRAD RÖNTGEN 43 Practical Solution 43

THOMAS ALVA EDISON 44 Decision Day 44 The Forecast 44 Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier 34 Two Machines 45 Abacus 34 A Good Idea but… 45 GEORGE STOKES 35 Insurmountable Task 35

Alexander Graham Bell 46 Silencer 46

LOUIS PASTEUR 36 Experiment Confirmed 36 A Gift From Pasteur 37 Mandatory Standing Up 37

MIHAJLO PUPIN 47 Training 47

WILLIAM THOMSON – LORD KELVIN 38 Puns 38 Outing 38 THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 39 High Speed 39 ALFRED BREHM 40 Reply 40 JOSIAH WILLARD GIBBS 41 The End of Silence 41

NIKOLA TESLA 48 An American Joke 48 New Environment 49 Correct Weight 49 Heinrich Rudolf Hertz 50 Unfulfilled Hopes 50 MAKS PLANCK 51 Everything is Already Solved 51 Too Young 51 ALEXANDER STEPANOVICH POPOV 52 How Come Telegrams Are Dry 52

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PIERRE CURIE 53 Curie’s Appreciation 53 Davy’s Medal 53 WALTER HERMANN NERNST 54 Money in Isolated System 54 MARIE CURIE 55 Composure 55 PETER NIKOLAEVICH LEBEDEV 56 The Firstborn 56 MIHAILO PETROVIĆ ALAS 57 Easily Digested Science 57 ROBERT WILLIAM WOOD 58 Nothing Human is Foreign 58 FRITZ HABER 59 When Tree Turns Green 59 ERNEST RUTHERFORD 60 Work but Also Think 60 Rutherford on Einstein’s Theory 61 The Last Potato 62 Rutherford’s Calculation 62 BERTRAND RUSSEL 63 Fate Of Millions 63 ALBERT EINSTEIN 64 Little Use 64 Einstein And Chaplin 64 4

Why? 65 House on Fire 65 Explanation 65 World War 4 66 Sign 67 Good Substitute 67 NIELS BOHR 68 Bohr’s Revenge 68 Simple Reason 68 Mathematics Overshadowed

by Football 69 Bohr’s Horse Shoe 69 PYOTR LEONIDOVICH KAPITSA 70 How Much is Knowledge 70 WOLFGANG PAULI 71 Homework 71 Pauli’s Effect 72 Technical Details 73 ENRICO FERMI 74 Fermi’s Resourcefulness 74 PAUL DIRAC 75 Precise Expression 75 Any Questions? 76 Review 76 Forgetfulness 77 Knitting 77

JOHN VON NEUMANN 78 Blame the Tree 78 Forgetfulness 79 Hunger 79 ROBERT OPPENHEIMER 80 The Answer 80 LEV DAVIDOVICH LANDAU 81 Incomprehensible Philosophy 81 The Color of Light 81 PAVLE SAVIĆ 82 Wan Fu Zhi 82 Emperor Haile Selassie’s Ducat 82 A ‘Little’ Late 83

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Anegdotes about great scientists Edited by ćanski Tomislav Sen Illustrated by ić Milan Pavlov

tion

duc o r t n i f o d a e t Ins

A

necdotes are a special literary form. They are a funny way to tell a story, often in the form of dialog, placing real persons in everyday situations. This book is a collection of anecdotes about great scientists. They allow us to get acquainted with the characters of those scientists, their commitment to their academic work, the difficulties they encountered and their joy of creation. Extracted from their biography, these short, lively and instructive accounts offer an insight into the other side of the famous people personalities and a glimpse at their wit and shrewdness, and sometimes their eccentricities, always revealing the shine of a truly great mind.

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THALES

.)

(625–547. B.C

The Greek philosopher Thales predicted the solar eclipse which occurred on May 28, 584 B.C. He calculated the height of the pyramids by measuring the length of their shadows. He proved several geometric theorems, one of which is still named after him.

Philosopher and the Sky Looking more at the starry sky than at his feet, Thales once fell into a ditch.

An old woman heard his cries for help.

Seeing him helpless at the bottom of the ditch, she said to him: - Well, well, Thales, you can’t even see where you walk and you want to know what is going on up in the sky!

- What is difficult? – they asked Thales.

- To know yourself – Tales replied.

- What is easy?

- To offer advice to others.

Determined to prove that it is much easier to make money than to be a philosopher, one winter Thales observed the weather and predicted favorable conditions for the olive harvest. He immediately went ahead and hired all the olive presses available, despite the ridicule of other villagers. When olives bore generously and the yield was richer than ever, Tales rented out his presses at a high price.

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DEMOCRIT. CU.)S (460–370. B

Greek philosopher Democritus believed that everything is composed of atoms and that the eternal movement of atoms is governed by natural laws. Today only fragments remain of his prolific work, indicating that Democritus covered all major areas of human knowledge.

Hipocrates i Democritus Shrill laughter often came from Democritus’s garden. – It’s our funny philosopher. His mind is not in the best of shape - citizens of Abdera had a habit of saying. The city senate decided that Hippocrates, the greatest physician of the time, should perform a detailed examination of Democritus’ suspicious condition and afterwards submit his expert opinion. Hippocrates visited Democritus and listened breathlessly to his long tale about atoms. When his followers came for Hippocrates, he said: - The case is a very interesting and complex one. I need to spend a night over at his place, observe him sleeping, see whether he is facing left or right, if he snores, if he talks in his sleep...

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“I would rather discover the actual cause behind one single thing than become the king of Persia.”

(Democritus)

The next day Hippocrates delivered his opinion to the senate: Prepare six large ships straight away and set them sail with the first favorable wind to the place which abounds in a herb with roots refreshing and curing any diseased brain. Next, have the ships loaded with this plant, stock them to the brim, and transport it over here.

Further, distribute the whole load free of charge to all citizens of this town, passing out three pounds per person, and you, gentlemen, take a double portion. Because Democritus is the only citizen of this town who doesn’t need any treatment.

“Life without joy is like a long road without an inn.”

(Democritus)

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ARISTOTE. Ln. e.)

(384–322. p

Greek philosopher Aristotle supported Empedocles’ doctrine of four elements constituting everything: fire, water, earth and air. Relying on the observation of natural phenomena, he concluded that the Earth was round.

Expensice ignorance Aristotle, teacher of Alexander the Great (Macedonian king), had a habit of answering ‘I don’t know’ to the many questions that people asked him.

- So why does the king pay you if you know nothing? - someone in Alexander’s entourage once observed.

- The King pays me for what I know - Aristotle replied. - If he were to pay me for what I don’t know, his entire treasure wouldn’t be enough.

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Aristotle was aware that Alexander had a gift for music. Listening to him playing the lyre, he once asked the King why he didn’t practice more.

Alexander replied: - To avoid getting good at it.

Futile gossiping Once someone told Aristotle in confidence that there were those who gossiped about him behind his back. Aristotle replied to the schemer: - It doesn’t hurt me one bit if they slander me in my absence.

They can even give me a good beating when I’m not there for all I care.

High Cost

“A historian speaks about what really happened and a poet about what could have happened. Therefore poetry is more philosophical and far more serious than historiography.”

(Aristotle)

Once a very talkative young man came to Aristotle seeking to learn the art of rhetoric. After a long-winded introductive speech, he asked Aristotle how much money he would charge to be his teacher.

- Twice as much as the others – the philosopher answered with a frown.

- Why? - the young man was surprised.

- Because I must work twice as much with you. Before I teach you to speak, I need to teach you to shut up.

Speaking in Vain A boring man once spoke at long length to Aristotle. Since the philosopher kept silent all the time, the blabbermouth thought to himself that he might be speaking in vain, and so he asked: - Maybe I bore you? Perhaps my words disturb your deep thoughts?

- Oh, no! - Aristotle replied.

- Feel free to extend, I’m not listening to you at all!

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EUCLID

. C.)

(330–275. B

Greek mathematician Euclid is the founder of the mathematical school of Alexandria. He is the author of The Elements, the most important textbook in the history of geometry.

Besides mathematics, he studied optics, astronomy and music.

No Royal Road for the King Discouraged by the difficulties he encountered in his studies of Euclid’s geometry, King Ptolemy once said: - Is there an easier way to learn geometry?

- There’re no royal roads in geometry – Euclid replied.

Reason When he learned his first theorem, a student once asked Euclid: - What do I have of my knowledge of this?

Euclid called a slave and instructed him: - Bring this man three small coins. His reason for learning is profit!

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R

LE P E K S E N N A JOH (1571–1630)

German astronomer, mathematician and physicist, Kepler formulated the laws of planetary motion, thus confirming the accuracy of the heliocentric system. Kepler’s laws allow determining the distance of planets from the Sun.

Kepler’s Salad Sitting at the table and looking at the salad that was set before him, Kepler once said: - If the bowls, leaves of lettuce, slices of eggs, grains of salt and drops of vinegar and oil were flying about in the air, they could by chance become a salad.

- Indeed - said Kepler’s wife, - but not as good as the one I make.

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AL

BLAISE PASC (1623–1662)

French mathematician, physicist and philosopher Pascal constructed a device that could carry out four basic mathematical operations. He invented the hydraulic press, a device using low force to lift heavy weight. In his honor unit of pressure is called the pascal (1 Pa).

Absent Mindedness One night Pascal returned home late. When he rang the door his sleepy servant did not recognize him.

- Who are you looking for, Sir? – the servent asked.

The absent minded Pascal replied: - Mr. Pascal.

- I’m sorry, he’s not at home.

- Oh, all right, I’ll drop in another time - replied the scientist, and walked away.

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Pascal Destroys a Barrel Pascal was well-versed in properties of liquids and gases, and loved performing interesting experiments in front of an audience. He once filled a 300-liter wine barrel with water. He then closed the barrel and drove a 1cm² hole in the lid. Through this opening he slipped a tube over 10 meters long. When he filed the tube with water, the barrel burst due to high pressure.

Etienne, Blaise Pascal’s father, had unorthodox educational views. He decided to teach his son himself and had forbidden the boy to study any mathematics before the age of fifteen. All mathematics texts were removed from their home! Only when he was sure of his son’s extraordinary talent was he allowed to acquire mathematical education.

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