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Re: [Phys-l] Tower height joke. Was: Re: [tap-l] Achromatic pairs - Lenses



“The Barometer Story” by Alexander Calandra (Current Science, Teacher’s edition, 1964)

If you want the whole story, send me a note.

John Hubisz

Bernard Cleyet wrote:
The joke was originally published in the Sat. Rev. of Lit. (<1980 probably ca. 1960) It involved originally just a barometer. The point somewhat different from the present form was the student didn't want to use the intended method. (pressure change). Here's his point more articulately (PER aficionados take note).



At this point, I asked the student if he really did not know the
conventional answer to this question. He admitted that he did, but
said that he was fed up with high school and college instructors
trying to teach him how to think, to use the "scientific method,"
and to explore the deep inner logic of the subject in a pedantic
way, as is often done in the new mathematics, rather than teaching
him the structure of the subject. With this in mind, he decided to
revive scholasticism as an academic lark to challenge the
Sputnik-panicked classrooms of America.

This version is, as well as I can remember, exactly the Sat. Review's.
http://www.math.vt.edu/people/adjerids/homepage/joke.html

bc, has the original somewhere.


Douglas Johnson wrote:



I wonder if there is enough density difference between the glass types to use Archemede's Principle? ... Doug J.


Reading these responses reminds me of an old joke I heard once... I hope I can give it justice..

A physics instructor gave a student a foot long ruler, stopwatch, and a rope to determine the height of a tower on campus in order to get an "A" in his class. The student went and used the ruler and measured each stair in the tower carefully all the way up to the top. He added it up and took his answer to the instructor who in turn said that it was the wrong answer. So the second attempt he took the ruler and dropped it off of the tower and timed it's fall, calculated the results and turned it in to his instructor. Of course the instructor said it was close, but it wasn't correct. So the third time he took the ruler and tied it onto the end of the rope and made a pendulum out of it and measured the period of the swing, made his calculations and once again gave it to his instructor. The professor was impressed at his determination and cleverness of his measurements, but once again it wasn't the correct answer. So about an hour later he came back with another answer and it was exactly right. The professor was shocked and shook his head and asked him how he did this with just the three articles he was given. The student responded, "I found the janitor and propose to him this question, that if he could tell me the height of the tower, that I would give him the ruler, stopwatch, and the rope."

Well, I thought it was funny... I may have forgotten some of the details... Doug J.