What Famous Physicist Built an Inaccurate Model of the Hydrogen Atom?

[Evo]

Arildno & Gokul get joint credit for question #5 (good detective work Gokul).

Yes, Jonathan Swift very closely described the two moons of Mars in "Gulliver's Travels" published in 1726.

"An odd interlude concerns the moons of Mars. For a while, some people suggested that simple numerology required Mars to have 2 moons (Earth has 1, four were known for Jupiter...). Two were indeed discovered and named Phobos and Deimos by Asaph Hall at the US Naval Observatory in 1877. These are tiny (Deimos is still the smallest known natural satellite, only 7.5 km along the major axis of its potato shape), and Phobos has the distinction of being the only moon to orbit faster than its planet rotates, in a mere 8 hours. Remarkably (presciently, spookily, by purest chance) moons with similar properties had been described in the purely fictional setting of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, published in 1726. Describing the Laputans and what they found from their flying island, he wrote, "They have likewise discovered two lesser Stars, or Satellites, which revolve about Mars; whereof the innermost is distant from the Center of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five; and the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and an half...". Not too bad. I can't prognosticate that well by trying very hard; some folks have all the luck, but then Nobel hadn't established his prize yet anyway.

http://www.astr.ua.edu/keel/marsfest/history.html

 

[Gokul43201]

For some reason, Thomas Paine hasn't given up the fight yet, he's still lurking in the back of my mind. Hopefully, he'll leave when Evo approves of Jonathan Swift as the answer.

Paine had visions of little people ? Maybe a swarm of little people with little pens drafting a formula for the new world order, as Paine dictated ?

 

[arildno]

Paine had visions of little people ? Maybe a swarm of little people with little pens drafting a formula for the new world order, as Paine dictated ?

He's left for good.
He had no business messing up my thinking in the first place, so good riddance to him.
I'm glad he's dead.

 

[Gokul43201]

Great question that, Evo

So it's down to the blasted foot taster ?

I have a guess : it's what I first thought of, but after reading other answers, thought they were better. I'm going to try centipede/millipede/one of those ugly things...oh, but these only have legs, not feet ! Drat !

 

[Moonbear]

Is it cheating to keep guessing random animals I see everyday (or at least often...squirrels are the only beasts I see EVERY day raiding the bird feeders)?

Perhaps Clarke refused to eat crow?

 

[arildno]

10) Dog, perhaps?

 

[Evo]

Is it cheating to keep guessing random animals I see everyday (or at least often...squirrels are the only beasts I see EVERY day raiding the bird feeders)?

Perhaps Clarke refused to eat crow?

Ok, I will give it away below with a clue that no one could miss.

Here it is: eating this would be like eating your best friend

 

[Evo]

10) Dog, perhaps?

Wow, we are psychically linked! I had just given the clue that would have given it away!

When the expedition started running low on food, they ate the dogs. Each man consumed 9lbs of meat per day on average.

 

[Gokul43201]

Oh ! I was going after the wrong question. 9 lbs of meat a day !??!

Someone famous wrote about eating dogs in one of his novels ...was it London ?

 

[Evo]

Oh ! I was going after the wrong question. 9 lbs of meat a day !??!

I found this in an article in National Geographic titled "Sex, Dog Meat, and the Lash: Odd Facts About Lewis and Clark" I became worried that National Geographic was branching off into kinky stuff.

"Their favorite foods were always elk, beaver tail, and buffalo, and when they were struggling up the Missouri the men ate prodigious amounts of it, up to nine pounds of meat per man per day. But dogs would do if dogs were all that they could get. Only Clark abstained. He couldn't bring himself to eat dog meat."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1204_031204_lewisclark.html

 

[arildno]

Actually, beaver tail seems more nauseating to me than dog..

 

[Gokul43201]

Great Quiz, Evo !

Despite being quite fond of van Eyck's works (he - in fact the realist movement itself, on a broader scale - was such a breath of fresh air from the medieval painters before him ), I had no idea he pioneered the use of oils ! Loved that one.

The physics questions (4, 15) were too easy for a place like this.

 

[Evo]

Great Quiz, Evo !

Thanks, it took me half a day to find reliable sources to verify everything I was posting, but it was fun. Well, it took me that long because I can't stop reading when I find something new.

Despite being quite fond of van Eyck's works (he - in fact the realist movement itself, on a broader scale - was such a breath of fresh air from the medieval painters before him ), I had no idea he pioneered the use of oils ! Loved that one.

That one surprised me too.

The physics questions (4, 15) were too easy for a place like this.

I know, but with my lack of knowledge of physics, I had to use information I could verify myself.

Alright, who's posting the next quiz?

 

[Mk]

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauotamateturipukakapikimaungahoro-Nukupokaiwhenua kitanatahu

Too bad I was too late, but actually I have:
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

 

[poolwin2001]

#5 Jonathan Swift in Gulliver's Travels

 

[poolwin2001]

Evo u should have edited the first page!
Too bad that i missed it.

 

[tribdog]

how about BIB or BOB instead of NOON?

 

[plover]

how about BIB or BOB instead of NOON?

Those only work, if, so to speak, you reflect through the x-axis rather than the usual "turn upside down" which is a 180° rotation.

 

[Gokul43201]

If you relax the palindrome constraint, you only have one more solution (I think) : MOW

And if you take out the capital letter contraint, you get just one more : pod

Allowing any combination of capital and small letters gives one additional possibility : dIp

Quite strange that the seemingly important palindromic constraint was not really !

On the other hand requiring invariance under reflection about a central x-axis (rether than a 180° rotation) opens up many more new solutions : BIB, BOB, DEED, DID, SEES, BOOB, etc.

 

[plover]

SEES doesn't work...

 

[dextercioby]

The only one who does work is "I" (the pronoun).

It has been suggested on the first page...So i claim no credit...

Daniel.

 

[Gokul43201]

SEES doesn't work...

Oops ! Guess I wass seeing right !

 

[tribdog]

If you relax the palindrome constraint, you only have one more solution (I think) : MOW

And if you take out the capital letter contraint, you get just one more : pod

Allowing any combination of capital and small letters gives one additional possibility : dIp

Quite strange that the seemingly important palindromic constraint was not really !

On the other hand requiring invariance under reflection about a central x-axis (rether than a 180° rotation) opens up many more new solutions : BIB, BOB, DEED, DID, SEES, BOOB, etc.

I think there must be more if you relax the palindrome and capital letter rule. you can use b/q, d/p, h/y, I/I, l/l, m/w, n/u, N/N, o/o, p/d, q/b, s/s, u/n, w/m, x/x, y/h, z/z
diN/Nip is one

 

[Gokul43201]

But dIN is not the same as NIp.

'pod' is another solution, but I don't think there's many more