Comments on: Department of truth stranger than fiction

By: Bilwick

Bilwick — Sat, 06 May 2017 18:08:47 +0000

“Let’s get Physics-al! Physics-al! , , , ,”

By: Wooly Bully

Wooly Bully — Fri, 05 May 2017 22:09:05 +0000

"I also learned who Mariette Hartley was." Watch Ride the High Country, then you'll really know.

By: Gringo

Gringo — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:53:10 +0000

JLS
That explains Let’s Get Physical.
Wins Best Comment of the Thread.

Regarding learning something new every day: I learned that Mariette Hartley was the granddaughter of John Watson, the behavioral psychologist. I also learned who Mariette Hartley was.

By: Linda Fox

Linda Fox — Fri, 05 May 2017 19:14:32 +0000

There is actually a huge overlap between those with musical abilities and math abilities. It seems that both areas involve using the same part of the brain.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 05 May 2017 15:32:03 +0000

Heddy Lamarr co-designed a radio guidance system for torpedoes during WWII. It wasn’t accepted by the Navy, but the principles involve help developed modern communication technology. Yes, that Heddy Lamarr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr#Inventor

By: Wooly Bully

Wooly Bully — Fri, 05 May 2017 13:37:16 +0000

John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism, was Mariette Hartley’s grandfather, if you like this sort of thing.

By: Llwddythlw

Llwddythlw — Fri, 05 May 2017 02:37:07 +0000

Here are some clips from the 1927 Solvay Physics Conference with a few appearances by Born. Other giants on display are Einstein, Dirac, Schré¶dinger, Heisenberg, de Broglie and Pauli.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GZdZUouzBY

By: Llwddythlw

Llwddythlw — Fri, 05 May 2017 02:29:46 +0000

In 2010, I corresponded with Nancy Greenspan, the author of a biography of Max Born, because of her description of Brinley Newton-John’s wartime activities. Born’s son-in-law had on occasions masqueraded as a German soldier during WWII to get information from the inmates on POW camps in Britain. My late father was involved in the same line of work when he was a British officer, although he could not recall meeting Brinley.

By: Paul in Boston

Paul in Boston — Fri, 05 May 2017 02:12:18 +0000

Born’s work on quantum mechanics is now absorbed into its use so that his name doesn’t come up much. But his book “Optics”, aka Born and Wolfe, is still in use today. I used to have a consulting job where I’d consult it regularly for solving difficult problems. It’s a very big book that is not for for the faint of heart or for those with weak upper body strength.

By: Richard Saunders

Richard Saunders — Fri, 05 May 2017 01:52:11 +0000

I happened to see an interview with the great phony Neil DeGrasse Tyson about Bret Stevens’ op-ed in the NYT just before I read this post and linked to Wikipedia to read up on Born. Tyson, as usual, attacked Stevens for daring to question the “science” (which Stevens actually did not do — just the panic).

The Wiki article includes a quote from Born’s Nobel lecture:

“I believe that ideas such as absolute certitude, absolute exactness, final truth, etc. are figments of the imagination which should not be admissible in any field of science. On the other hand, any assertion of probability is either right or wrong from the standpoint of the theory on which it is based. This loosening of thinking (Lockerung des Denkens) seems to me to be the greatest blessing which modern science has given to us. For the belief in a single truth and in being the possessor thereof is the root cause of all evil in the world.”

Somebody should send Tyson a copy.