Bizarre, Criminal law, Society

When Physicists Attack: Homeless Man Attacks Fellow Transient in Disagreement Over Quantum Physics

180px-Albert_Einstein_1947This week a homeless man in California hit a fellow transient in the face with a skateboard over a disagreement about quantum physics. In San Francisco, Jason Everett Keller, 40, allegedly attacked, Stephan Fava, over a disputed physics question.

At the time of the attack, Fava was discussing quantum physics with a third homeless man.

I have been warning for years about the danger of “fighting words” in quantum physics discussions. I confess that I have come close to blows when I hear someone disparage Planck’s Action Constant in a bar.

For the Turley bloggers, here are a few pointers to avoid when you find yourself in a heated discussion with an amateur physicist. Likewise, one has to learn to control one’s temper when someone says “Hey, Buddy, I don’t care what the correspondence principle says, all objects do not have to obey the laws of quantum mechanics.”

In the interest of quantum peace, here are my top five favorite pick-up lines for physicists:

1. What’s your resonance frequency?

2. Your smile is warmer than hydrogen plasma.

3. I’m hung like a Foucault pendulum.

4. Heisenberg was wrong. I’m certain about what you’re doing tonight.

5. You make me want to be a better physicist.

For the story, click here.

44 thoughts on “When Physicists Attack: Homeless Man Attacks Fellow Transient in Disagreement Over Quantum Physics”

  1. Link exchange is nothing else except it is only placing the other person’s webpage link on your page at suitable place and
    other person will also do same in favor of you.

  2. Of course the response to the Heisenberg Line “Heisenberg was wrong. I’m certain about what you’re doing tonight.” would be, “Perhaps, but you don’t know where I will be doing it.”

  4. Yes, interesting, thanks for the comments!

    Who knows, may be he did “borrow” some ideas from his predecessors. One thing I know is that the fact that the speed of light is always the same does follow from Maxwell’s equations.

    In fact there are many sites on the internet claiming Einstein- plagiarist.

    Here is just one more of them:
    http://www.newsnet14.com/2003/12/albert-einstein-genius-or-plagiarist/

    I guess I will read this article completely then try to make a judgment.

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