Thursday, November 27, 2008
~ 10:43 PM ~
"Newton sux!" Peter complained.
"No, Bernoulli sux more!" Mike replied.
"Which Bernoulli?" Harry joked.
Three young men, of age 19, were discussing about their year 1 modules - Newton's laws and fluid mechanics. Their exams were just a few days away. The janitor went past them, whistling an oldie, "Umbrella".
P:"Janitor Vittig! You know physicists don't you?"
"Da! That is correct. You mean the kind you find in restrooms..."
M:"No, you old man. The phy-si-cists. Those who study phy-sics. you know. F=ma that kinda thing."
"Oh! Phy-sics! I know them. Curse those Maxwells and Plancks and Boltzmanns!"
H: "Wowowo slow down,old man. Who's Planck? Who's Boltzmann? We're talking about physicists here! Newton and Bernoulli and Galileo!"
"Er... Never heard of Planck's constant? Boltzmann's constant?"
M: "You talking some alien language over here? The only constant in the world is Newton's Gravitational constant, man! Everything else derives from there. Acceleration, motion and some fluids. In fact, I can't believe we gotta take 3 years to learn how balls move only."
"No, no, no. Wait. How balls move? That's the only thing they teach in physics? Don't they teach light and nuclear physics?"
Peter became impatient.
"You babbling nonsense, old man? Any of us cool kids know that physics is about balls moving. This science gives us money when we can predict ball landings in the big games. If you ain't got any sense to tell us, you may go back to your work."
"B-B-But I did study them before. I know the speed of light at the back of my hand! 299..."
"The speed of light?Ha!" They laughed at the old janitor. What has light got to do with balls.
Janitor Vittig was stunned. He did not know how to react. Dejectedly, he stepped back into his room. "So this is what it has become. No wonder they made me a janitor."
---"Stories of a distant future: Or so he hopes", Hephaestus Han
