Just a little humor

Have to say, I've seen this story before but this is the first time I've seen a student's name attached. Or a professors.

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The Barometer Story: How Niels Bohr Outsmarted an Exam—and Redefined Genius

One day, a professor approached Ernest Rutherford, president of the Royal Academy, with a dilemma. He was about to fail a physics student who had given a completely correct—but entirely unconventional—answer to a test question. The student insisted he deserved top marks. They agreed to let Rutherford act as an impartial judge.

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The Exam Question:
"How would you measure the height of a building using a barometer?"

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The Student’s Answer:
"Tie a long string to the barometer, lower it from the roof to the ground, then pull it back up and measure the length of the string. That’s the height of the building."
Technically? Correct.

But was it physics? The professor said no. So Rutherford challenged the student: “You have six minutes to give another answer—this time using physics.”

Five minutes passed. The student had written nothing. “Are you giving up?” asked Rutherford.

“Not at all,” the student replied. “I’m just choosing the best of the several answers I’ve come up with.”

Intrigued, Rutherford let him speak.

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New Answer:
"Drop the barometer from the roof and measure how long it takes to hit the ground. Use the equation of free fall to calculate the height."

Physics-approved? Yes. The professor gave in. But the student wasn’t done.

He continued:
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"You could measure the height of the barometer and its shadow, then measure the building's shadow. Use proportions to find the height."
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"Or walk up the stairs, marking the wall with the barometer, count the marks, and multiply by its length."
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"Tie a string to the barometer and use it as a pendulum. Compare gravitational differences at the top and bottom to calculate height."
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"Or simply offer the building manager a nice barometer in exchange for the height information."

Rutherford, amazed, asked: “Did you know the standard answer?”

“Of course,” the student said. “But I’m tired of teachers insisting there’s only one way to think.”

That student’s name?
Niels Bohr—the Danish physicist who went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1922.

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The Moral?
Real genius doesn’t just follow the rules—it reimagines them.

True education doesn’t punish creativity—it celebrates it.
 
Shiftless2 said:
"True education doesn’t punish creativity—it celebrates it." #721
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This #721 anecdote precipitates a half-dozen memories from my own 70+ year bumpy road.

I'll recount the earliest, from 2nd grade public school.
One of the test questions: mark 3 crosses on the line.
sear replied: X + X

My teacher informed me my test score would have been 100% but she deducted two points because I only put one cross on the line.
Yet when we graphically exclude an item we draw an X over it, and say we "crossed it out". So an X is a cross (two crossed lines), right? BUT !!
Though it was a "public" (euphemism for "government") school, the teacher was Catholic. To her, it wasn't a cross unless it had the vertical configuration like that of the crucifix.

This transgression on her part has been crippling. I probably would have been president a few times if not for her. And though she's been dead a half a century I'm still considering egging her house!

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This graphic may look satirical, a contrivance. But FOX News Sunday broadcast it this AM.
 
PS
Comedian Steve Martin thanked goodness there's no such thing as a rectal barometer. Can't imagine why.
Or can I ...
 
1. When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.

2. To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.

3. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.

4. It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.

5. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.

6. When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.

7. I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.

8. I had my patience tested. I'm negative.

9. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.

10. If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"

11. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.

12. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.

13. I run like the winded.

14. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.

15. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"

16. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

17. I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.

18. When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east."

19. Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.

20. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.

21. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb."
-source unknown.
 
  • How do you make holy water? You boil the hell out of it.

  • Why are mountains so funny? They’re hill areas.

  • I had a joke about paper today, but it was tearable.
 
Christopher Marlowe wrote of Helen of Troy: "the face that launched a thousand ships".

Scientist Isaac Asimov requantified: the amount of beauty needed to launch one ship = one milli-Helen.
 
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Thus maintaining an ordeal average speed of 1.52 x 10 E -4 MPH, about 1 / 700 the transport speed of audio cassette tape. Local law enforcement authorities admit modern speed-trap radar is not designed to accurately measure such velocity.

Authorities characterize the perpetrator as a hard case, but have agreed to not press charges provided the tortoise stays off meth, and returns to a diet of mostly leaves and bugs.
 
Little Johnny, 6 years old, gets home from school. He had his first family planning lesson at school.

His mother, is very interested & she asks “…How did it go?”

“I died of shame”…he answers!

Annie from over the road, says that the stork brings babies. Sally next door said you can buy babies at the orphanage.

Timmy in my class says you can buy babies at the hospital.

His mother answers laughingly…

“But that’s no reason to be ashamed?”

“No, but I can’t tell them that we were so poor that you and Daddy
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had to make me yourselves!”
 
In 2023 "thieves stole 27,609 catalytic converters in the US, with more than half of those thefts happening in California, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau. That’s down sharply from the more than 64,700 that were stolen in 2022"
Often, there’s platinum, worth more than $1,000 an ounce, palladium, worth nearly as much, and rhodium, worth almost $5,000 per ounce. They react chemically with exhaust gases, breaking down compounds like carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and small amounts of unburned fuel into less harmful substances.

Shiftless2 said:
"Catholic Converters" & "I wonder if it's the Lutherans or Episcopalians" #736
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I Protest

note:
When our writers typed in the previous millennium their options included pica, or elite. They typed with 10 fingers.
In the new millennium shirt-pocket computers (aka "smart-phones") have rendered us all thumbs.
Thus over-reliance on word-completion & spell-check algorithms. Yacht Club Estates may or may not be a nitwit, but may have been victimized by software gremies.
 
An old Pilot sat down in Starbucks and ordered a cup of coffee.

As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him.

She turned to the pilot and asked, ‘Are you a real pilot?’

He replied, ‘Well, I’ve spent my whole life flying biplanes, Cubs, Aeronca’s, Neiuports, flew in WWII in a B-29, and later in the Korean conflict, taught 50 people to fly and gave rides to hundreds, so I guess I am a pilot – what about you?’

She said, ‘I’m a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about naked women. When I shower, I think about naked women When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.’

The two sat sipping in silence.

A little while later, a young man sat down on the other side of the old pilot and asked, ‘Are you a real pilot?’

He replied, ‘I always thought I was, but I just found out I’m a lesbian.’
 
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