This story happened at one of the presentations of the famous German theoretical physicist, founder of quantum physics and Nobel laureate Max Planck. It all started with the fact that after the award in 1918, the genius of physics went on a tour of various cities with a report on his scientific ideas and the latest scientific research.
At each of the performances, in addition to Planck, there was one more person present – it was his driver. Since Max Planck spoke everywhere with the same report, then over time, the driver literally learned everything that his brilliant passenger was talking about. And then, once the driver suggested the Nobel laureate to play a trick on the audience. The idea was that at one of the regular reports they would switch roles: the driver would act as a speaker, introducing himself as Max Planck, and the scientist would sit in the hall in a driver’s cap.
The titled theoretical physicist liked the idea, and he smiled and agreed, believing that a little humor would never hurt a serious scientific aura.
The Day of the Physics Lecture
Imagine the day of the presentation. The hall was full of experts in physics, professors and students. The driver enters the center of the audience, introduces himself as Max Planck, looks at the audience attentively and begins his report. During the report, he cheerfully and competently tells the entire presentation. At the same time, Max Planck is sitting in the hall in a driver’s cap, watching the reaction of the public and is completely delighted with what is happening. For the great scientist, this was a good reason to laugh at himself and show that science does not always have to be serious and inaccessible.
Several hours of the presentation go smoothly, the audience listens to the lecturer without guessing anything. And now comes the moment of questions and answers. One of the professors of physics asks a question on the topic of the report. The driver listens attentively and says:
— I would never have thought that in such a progressive city I would be asked such a simple question. With your permission, I will ask my driver to answer it.
What a surprise it was when a man in a driver’s cap really gave an exhaustive answer to a tricky question in physics. Since then, this funny story has become legendary in scientific circles.
