Spotted on Hollywood Boulevard:
Moonlighting Physicist?
(Click here for detail.)
On a serious note… It is still scary to think that this might still be the most common sort of image of a scientist in many people’s minds… We’ve a lot of work to do.
-cvj
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Oh snap!
Damn, that boy I was telling you about just uploaded a ternary operation!
jack buck
Clifford,
Duly noted. Do you know anyone who speaks sub-operator language?
Cheers,
jack buck
I think I’ll pass on this one this time. Maybe someone else will have a stab at it and tell us what they think.
Cheers,
-cvj
Clifford-
although i’m not entirely clear, he seems to be combining some very fundamental equations such as the fine structure constant, (which he mis-labeled the fine particle constant) into number theory. on his riemann solution page his last equation seems to imply that the summation of all numbers real and imaginary somehow mulitplied by an electromagnetic “pulse” (?), defined by the fine structure constant in the permittivity of free space thus multiplied by any number to the negative first power…whew, i’m tired already….equals any imaginary number (?) plus one-half.
It kind of blows my mind quite frankly. That’s why I can’t make heads or tails of it either. the other papers seem quite interesting but my mind is still reeling with the first conclusional/ solutional equation.
what did you think?
I can’t make head or tail of it. Tell us more about what it is supposed to be.
Thanks.
-cvj
Speaking of moonlighting physicists, what is your take on the interesting physics @ http://www.humanfrequency.com ?
Idiot savant or just idiot?
It looks very much like a Tim Hunkin machine.
Here’s a link to some more:
http://timhunkin.com/38_medical_coin_ops.htm
It’s so difficult to fight against stereotyping. I guess some of us would fall into the same traps when thinking of areas far from usual experience. Polar Explorers (big beard, missing fingers), or astronauts (square jaw, military), or brigadiers (moustache, stiff upperlip)perhaps?
“I suspect if you asked a bunch of people on the street to identify a physicist, you’d get a lot of people for whom this image popped into their mind”
Nope, people think Einstein. Last year, I did a survey amongst my non-science friends and asked them to name a scientist. Einstein was definetely first though there were nods to a few other dead guys, so finally I asked everyone to name a LIVING scientist and no one could. Well ok, one or two got Hawking, but nothing beyond that.
Now I’ve nothing against Einstein, or Newton, or all those other people, but it’s rather sad that what science is most famous for happened over a century ago.
Actually, it does look remarkably like Mr Foy, my school chemistry teacher who did all kind of crazy demonstrations including one that produced so much chlorine gas that the classroom had to be evacuated for an hour. When he was’nt looking we also used to stand behind him and pretend to do the Benny Hill head slapping thing.
Looks like Robin Williams having a really bad hair day.
Is that an actual human being in there??? Or is it a disneyesque audioanimatronic thingamajiggy???
I suspect if you asked a bunch of people on the street to identify a physicist, you’d get a lot of people for whom this image popped into their mind:
http://www.stephen-hawking.com/s_hawking.jpg
-Rob