The Great Physicists' Road Trip by Ms. Rachel C. Millison

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Discussion Overview

The thread presents a humorous narrative involving famous physicists embarking on a road trip, exploring themes of physics concepts through dialogue and interactions among the characters. The discussion includes elements of theoretical physics, humor, and character-driven storytelling.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is humorously referenced when he claims to know his location but not his speed.
  • Einstein's theories are invoked in discussions about the nature of time and measurement, with Heisenberg suggesting time runs differently for the cop and the physicists.
  • Schrödinger's cat is humorously included in a dialogue about a dead cat in the trunk, illustrating quantum mechanics concepts.
  • Participants express various reactions to the situation, with Newton questioning the nature of acceleration and gravity.
  • There are playful exchanges about the complexity of physics, with Feynman offering to draw a diagram for the cop.
  • Discussions about disorder and inequality are brought up by Kelvin, Boltzmann, and Bell, reflecting on social themes alongside scientific ones.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally engage in a light-hearted narrative without clear consensus on the scientific concepts presented, as the dialogue is primarily comedic and exploratory rather than definitive.

Contextual Notes

The narrative includes references to various physics concepts and historical figures, but it does not provide a rigorous analysis or resolution of the scientific ideas discussed.

Who May Find This Useful

Readers interested in physics humor, character-driven storytelling, and the interplay of scientific concepts in a light-hearted context may find this thread engaging.

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Great physicists from the past decide to return to Earth for one last road-trip vacation to the coast together. They all appear on Earth on the designated evening. Heisenberg pulls up behind the wheel of a gigantic 1930's car, a huge grin on his face.

As they're getting in the car, Hubble looks up and says "What a wonderfully dark sky".
"Shouldn't be" responds Olbers.
"Always has been" says Hoyle.
"No, it hasn't" says Lemaitre.
"I knew that!" says an embarrassed Einstein.
Once they're all in, Teller says "Hey guys, this trip is going to be The Bomb!".
"Yeah, but why do I always have to organize?" asks Oppenheimer.
"Where exactly will we end up?" asks Kepler.
"That's impossible to predict" says Bohr.
"I just can't believe that's true" says Einstein.
Heisenberg punches the throttle and the old car roars off.
"Say - this thing sure accelerates" says Newton.
"I don't know, Isaac. It feels like gravity to me" smirks Einstein.

Later that night, as they are speeding down a country road, a police car catches up to them and pulls them over.[1]

"Do you know how fast you were going?" the cop asks. [1]
"No, but I know exactly where I am" Heisenberg replies. [1]
The cop says "You were doing 55 in a 35" [1]
Heisenberg throws up his hands and shouts "Great! Now I'm lost!" [1]
The cop thinks this is suspicious and orders him to pop open the trunk. He checks it out and says "Do you know you have a dead cat back here?" [1]
"We do now!" shouts Schrödinger. [1]
"I think it's time to split" says Everett.

"Say, how did you manage to spot us on such a dark night?" asks Hubble.
"I saw the light from your head lamps" says the cop.
"How fast was *it* going?" asks Michelson.
"That's simple addition" giggles Galileo.
"Not exactly" says Lorentz.
"Look here" says Heisenberg, "how do you know I was going that fast?"
"I clocked you over a measured distance" says the cop.
"How often?" asks Hertz.
"I disagree with your measurement, officer" interjects Einstein.
"Don't start tonight, Albert" says Bohr, shaking his head.
"What Herr Einstein is trying to say" continues Heisenberg, "is that time was running at a different rate for you than for us".
"WHAT!?" exclaims Newton.
"It's true" says Maxwell. "We're all famous scientists and, believe us, Herr Einstein proved it, though it came as no surprise to me".
"Must have been a real eureka moment" nods Archimedes.
"Extraordinary!" says Galileo.
"Extraordinary evidence" asserts Sagan.
"Well, it sounds awfully complicated" responds the cop.
"I'll draw you a simple diagram" says Feynman.
Totally flummoxed, the cop let's them go with a warning. As he drives away, Doppler cocks his head and listens to the sound of the receding police car. "Gotta love that" he says.
"Amen" responds Hubble.

Returning to their car, Lord Kelvin remarks "Sure is warm tonight"
"Yep - lots of disorder" replies Boltzmann.
"In places you'd never expect" adds Hawking.
"I was lucky to get away with that" says Heisenberg. "Most cops think they're better than everyone else".
"Yes - I hate inequality" adds Bell.
"Though you *were* speeding" says Faraday to Heisenberg. "I carefully observed the needle creep from 35 to 55".
"Actually, it was jumping, Michael" replies Planck.
"Hey, Max" says Heisenberg, "If you loan me a tiny bit of money, I'll pay it back so quickly you'll never notice it was gone".

As they pile back into the car, Bohr says "See here - you must fill the seats in order - no empty spaces allowed. And stop interfering with each other!"
"Only one of you can sit next to me!" yells an agitated Pauli.
"Say, Werner - it's stuffy in here. Be a good chap and crack the window a bit" says Hawking.
"Sorry, Stephen. It can be all the way up or all the way down, but nowhere in between" replies Heisenberg.
"Hey guys - Albert and I just figured out a great shortcut. Only one bridge" announces Rosen.
"It will save us a lot of distance" says Einstein, "but it might get spooky".

Arriving at the beach the next morning, they hurry from the car and stand looking out over the ocean.
"Look at the wonderful waves" says Schrödinger.
"They don't look like waves to me" says Bohr.
Looking down at the fine sand, Dirac exclaims "Look at all the particles!"
"Now *those* look like waves" says De Broglie.
"This is great!" exclaims Feynman, rubbing his hands together. "Now, let's go meet some girls!"
"Let's delay" says Wheeler.
"We have to be discrete" warns Bohm.
"Girls? NEVER!" exclaims Newton.1 Based on, and including the original, attributed to Rich Granger, engineer, Battelle.
 
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Nice poem!

Reminds me of Night At The Museum.

Any plans for a sequel?
 
jedishrfu said:
Nice poem!

Reminds me of Night At The Museum.

Any plans for a sequel?
That version is dated. This one includes Occam and Mach, and has a better ending by Newton:

The Great Physicists' Road Trip by Ms. Rachel C. Millison

Great physicists and a few of their friends from the past decide to return to Earth for one last road-trip vacation to the coast together. They all appear on Earth on the designated evening. Heisenberg pulls up behind the wheel of a gigantic 1930's car, a huge grin on his face.
As they're getting in the car, Hubble looks up and says "What a wonderfully dark sky".
"Shouldn't be" responds Olbers.
"Always has been" says Hoyle.
"No, it hasn't" says Lemaitre.
"I knew that!" says an embarrassed Einstein.
Once they're all in, Teller says "Hey guys, this trip is going to be The Bomb!".
"Yeah, but why do I always have to organize?" asks Oppenheimer.
"Where exactly will we end up?" asks Kepler.
"That's impossible to predict" says Bohr.
"I just can't believe that's true" says Einstein.
Heisenberg punches the throttle and the old car roars off.
"Say - this thing sure accelerates" says Newton.
"I don't know, Isaac. It feels like gravity to me" smirks Einstein.

Later that night, as they are speeding down a country road, a police car catches up to them and pulls them over.[1]
"Do you know how fast you were going?" the cop asks. [1]
"No, but I know exactly where I am" Heisenberg replies. [1]
The cop says "You were doing 55 in a 35" [1]
Heisenberg throws up his hands and shouts "Great! Now I'm lost!" [1]
The cop thinks this is suspicious and orders him to pop open the trunk. He checks it out and says "Do you know you have a dead cat back here?" [1]
"We do now, a**hole!" shouts Schrödinger. [1]
"I think it's time to split" says Everett.

"Say, how did you manage to spot us on such a dark night?" asks Hubble.
"I saw the light from your head lamps" says the cop.
"How fast was *it* going?" asks Michelson.
"That's simple addition" giggles Galileo.
"Not exactly" says Lorentz.
"Look here" says Heisenberg, "how do you know I was going that fast?"
"I clocked you over a measured distance" says the cop.
"How often?" asks Hertz.
"I disagree with your measurement, officer" interjects Einstein.
"Don't start tonight, Albert" says Bohr, shaking his head.
"What Herr Einstein is trying to say" continues Heisenberg, "is that time was running at a different rate for you than for us".
"WHAT!?" exclaims Newton.
"It's true" says Maxwell. "We're all famous scientists and, believe us, Herr Einstein proved it, though it came as no surprise to me".
"Must have been a real eureka moment" nods Archimedes.
"Extraordinary!" says Galileo.
"Extraordinary evidence" asserts Sagan.
"Well, it sounds awfully complicated" responds the cop.
"Not really. I'll draw you a simple diagram" says Feynman.
Totally flummoxed, the cop let's them go with a warning. As he drives away, Doppler cocks his head and listens to the sound of the receding police car. "Gotta love that" he says.
"Amen" responds Hubble.

Returning to their car, Lord Kelvin remarks "Sure is warm tonight"
"Yep - lots of disorder" replies Boltzmann.
"In places you'd never expect" adds Hawking.
"I was lucky to get away with that" says Heisenberg. "Most cops think they're better than everyone else".
"Yes - I hate inequality" adds Bell.
"Though you *were* speeding" says Faraday to Heisenberg. "I carefully observed the needle creep from 35 to 55".
"Actually, it was jumping, Michael" replies Planck.
"Please keep it under 0.07" says Mach.
"Hey, Max" says Heisenberg, "If you loan me a tiny bit of money, I'll pay it back so quickly you'll never notice it was gone".

As they pile back into the car, Bohr says "See here - you must fill the seats in order - no empty spaces allowed. And stop interfering with each other!"
"Only one of you can sit next to me!" yells an agitated Pauli.
"Say, Werner - it's stuffy in here. Be a good chap and crack the window a bit" says Hawking.
"Sorry, Stephen. It can be all the way up or all the way down, but nowhere in between" replies Heisenberg.
"Hey guys - Albert and I just figured out a great shortcut. Only one bridge" announces Rosen.
"It will save us a lot of distance" says Einstein, "but it might get spooky".

Arriving at the beach the next morning, they hurry from the car and stand looking out over the ocean.
"Look at the wonderful waves" says Schrödinger.
"They don't look like waves to me" says Bohr.
Looking down at the fine sand, Dirac exclaims "Look at all the particles!"
"Now *those* look like waves" says De Broglie.
"This is great!" exclaims Feynman, rubbing his hands together. "Now, let's go meet some girls!"
"Sounds good to me!" exclaims Schrödinger.
"Let's delay" says Wheeler.
"We have to be discrete" warns Bohm.
"I need to shave first" says Occam.
"What are girls?" asks Newton.1 Based on, and including the original joke attributed to Rich Granger, Engineer, Battelle.
 
Your poem is right up there with the periodic table songs by Tom Lehrer and othersAnd this is probably the best science video based on a StarWars theme:

Anyway, perhaps you can map your poem to music someday.
 
Thanks. Feel free to share it.
 

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