Editing 1584: Moments of Inspiration
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
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− | + | {{w|Isaac Newton}}'s original examples describing the force of gravity show an apple falling from a tree in order to explain why the apple falls toward the Earth, instead of the Earth falling toward the apple, however. He was indeed inspired by a {{w|Isaac_Newton#Apple_incident|falling apple}} but over time this developed into the legend that he was originally inspired from being actually struck by the apple. The first part of this comic retells that famous legend. The later panels depict similar (but more implausible) legends that could emerge if we were to assume that other scientists' most famous examples and discoveries were based on actually observing some mundane everyday event taking place. | |
− | In the second situation | + | In the second situation Cueball throws a baseball towards {{w|Lise Meitner}}, but when she fails to catch the ball it hits one of her porcelain model-atoms. In this way Meitner discovered a way to split the atom. The porcelain might also be also be a reference to {{w|Meissen porcelain}}, in German called "Meißner Porzellan", where "Meißner" is phonetically very similar to "Meitner". Cueball may represent {{w|Otto Hahn}}, since they were part of the Hahn-Meitner-Strassmann-team that worked on this problem. Hahn was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, where Meitner was overlooked. Throwing something at someone and asking them to [http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/think-fast-throwing-something.1984437/ think fast] is a common "joke", where the receiver rarely has a chance to actually catch the object. But in this case it could also be a reference to the fact that she then thought fast then made a major discovery. Or if it is Hahn, then he thought faster and got the award instead of her. |
− | In the third situation | + | In the third situation it is indicated that half of {{w|Charles Darwin}}'s children had beaks. This would make it very difficult for them to drink soda from a glass or through a straw, compared to normal children with mouth. (The comic is unclear on whether this makes them more or less fit to survive and reproduce; considering the negative health consequences of soda consumption, it would seem that evolution would favor the humans who cannot drink soda.) This is a reference to Darwin's initial findings on the RMS Beagle on how Galapagos finches with differently shaped beaks are better suited for specific types of food, and therefore are better selected for in environments where those foods are available. (The title-text furthers this with a description of how beaks rather than mouths are more useful when the foods have shells that need to be cracked open like nuts and seeds.) |
− | + | {{w|Albert Einstein}} remarks to a man that it's annoying that the man's twin brother keeps flashing a light from a train when Einstein is trying to check his clock. He then comes to a sudden revelation. This references several of Einstein's (separate--it makes little sense together in this manner) thought experiments on special relativity, such as the twin paradox (the twin on the train should be younger after decelerating to a stop), the time between separate flashes of light, and the time dilation experienced by the observer in the moving reference frame. | |
− | The | + | The "John" and "Mildred" of the title text may be Mildred and {{w|John T. Scopes}} of the famous 1925 "monkey trial" in which John was fined $100 for teaching evolution in a Tennessee school. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Isaac Newton | :Isaac Newton | ||
:Apple falling: Bonk | :Apple falling: Bonk | ||
− | :Isaac Newton: | + | :Isaac Newton: Ow! |
:[Isaac Newton rubs his sore head.] | :[Isaac Newton rubs his sore head.] | ||
:Isaac Newton: Aha! | :Isaac Newton: Aha! | ||
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:[Cueball throws a baseball towards Lise Meitner with short dark hair. (The ball can be seen in the next frame). She turns towards him too late to react and completely fails to even try catching the ball. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:] | :[Cueball throws a baseball towards Lise Meitner with short dark hair. (The ball can be seen in the next frame). She turns towards him too late to react and completely fails to even try catching the ball. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:] | ||
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:Ball hitting something (off-screen): Crash | :Ball hitting something (off-screen): Crash | ||
− | :[Lise takes her hands to her mouth and she watches the broken porcelain atom lying in two pieces on the floor where it has fallen | + | :[Lise takes her hands to her mouth and she watches the broken porcelain atom lying in two pieces on the floor where it has fallen of a desk. On the desk three other intact atoms can be seen. The baseball lies behind her.] |
− | :Lise Meitner: Oh no! My collection of porcelain atoms! | + | :Lise Meitner: Oh no! My collection of porcelain atoms! |
:Lise Meitner:...Hmm. | :Lise Meitner:...Hmm. | ||
− | :[Four kids are standing in front of Megan and Charles Darwin (with a big beard and hair behind the ears). All the kids are trying to drink a glass of soda with a straw in them. The first kid is a boy with dark flat hair and sips soda through the straw with his mouth. The next kid is a boy with standing black hair, he tries in | + | |
+ | :[Four kids are standing in front of Megan and Charles Darwin (with a big beard and hair behind the ears). All the kids are trying to drink a glass of soda with a straw in them. The first kid is a boy with dark flat hair and sips soda through the straw with his mouth. The next kid is a boy with standing black hair, he tries in wain to drink with his beak open on each side of the glass. The third kid is a girl with her hair in a bun. She tries to get her beak into the glass which she has put on the floor. The last kid is a boy version of Cueball who slurps his soda through the straw. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:] | ||
:Charles Darwin | :Charles Darwin | ||
:Megan: I gave our kids soda, but the ones with beaks always have trouble drinking it. | :Megan: I gave our kids soda, but the ones with beaks always have trouble drinking it. | ||
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:Cueball like kid: Sluurp | :Cueball like kid: Sluurp | ||
− | :[A hairy guy is standing in front of Albert Einstein (with wild hair and a | + | |
+ | :[A hairy guy is standing in front of Albert Einstein (with wild hair and a moustache), who is holding one hand to his head and has a clock in his other hand. Behind them is a train, with a locomotive at the front and a wagon behind that stretches beyond the frame. Another hairy guy has his head out of the front window of the wagon and is flashing a light towards the other two. In the next three windows can be seen passengers, two with Cueball like heads and one with hair. There is a caption in a frame that breaks the top border of the main frame:] | ||
:Albert Einstein | :Albert Einstein | ||
− | :Albert Einstein: I wish your twin brother would stop shining lights at us from that train. I can barely see my clock! | + | :Albert Einstein: I wish your twin brother would stop shining lights at us from that train. I can barely see my clock! |
:Albert Einstein: ...Wait! | :Albert Einstein: ...Wait! | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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