Wow! Brains are interesting things. I often cannot remember where I left my shoes, but I can recall an odd bit of trivia from something I read when I was in the second grade....
Too bad there's no job for people who remember odd bits of arcana.... m -- Marc Carter, PhD Associate Professor and Chair Department of Psychology College of Arts & Sciences Baker University -- > -----Original Message----- > From: Allen Esterson [mailto:allenester...@compuserve.com] > Sent: Thursday, December 09, 2010 2:31 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re:[tips] A brilliant discovery > > Marc Carter wrote re Archimedes and "eureka!": > > >Without looking I'm going to guess that he wanted to know > how to assess > >the purity of an oddly-shaped bit of precious metal, and needed to > >compare volume with weight. > > Good recollection, Marc! > > Or as Wikipedia expresses it: > > "Archimedes was asked by the local king to detect whether a > crown was pure gold, or if the goldsmith had added silver. > During his trip to the public bath, he noticed that water is > displaced when his body sinks into the bath, and that the > volume of water displaced equals the volume of the body > immersed in the water. This means that he can measure the > density of the crown, and compare it to a bar of pure gold." > > But: "This story is thought to be a myth, because it was > first mentioned by the Roman writer Vitruvius nearly 200 > years after the event, and because the method described by > Vitruvius would have been inaccurate." > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_effect > > Allen Esterson > Former lecturer, Science Department > Southwark College, London > allenester...@compuserve.com > http://www.esterson.org > > ------------------------------------------- > > From: Marc Carter <marc.car...@bakeru.edu> > Subject: RE: Re:A brilliant discovery > Date: Wed, 8 Dec 2010 09:10:30 -0600 > > Without looking I'm going to guess that he wanted to know how > to assess the purity of an oddly-shaped bit of precious > metal, and needed to compare volume with weight. > > But that's dragged from the deep recesses of my childhood, so > I'm probably wrong. > > > m > > -- > Marc Carter, PhD > Associate Professor and Chair > Department of Psychology > College of Arts & Sciences > Baker University > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: marc.car...@bakeru.edu. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72 > a2d17c90e1&n=T&l=tips&o=7081 > or send a blank email to > leave-7081-13029.76c7c563b32ad9d8d09c72a2d17c9...@fsulist.fros > tburg.edu > The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and any attachments thereto. Thank you. --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7085 or send a blank email to leave-7085-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
