Today in Science History - Quickie Quiz

A. H. Reginald Buller

(19 Apr 1874 - 3 Jul 1944)

British-Canadian mycologist who wrote seven volumes of Researches in Fungi, Essays in Wheat and Practical Botany. He wrote limericks, of which, Relativity remains well-known.

A. H. Reginald Buller
“To her friends said the Bright one in chatter”

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A. H. Reginald Buller quote To her friends said the Bright one in chatter

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“To her friends said the Bright one in chatter,
‘I have learned something new about matter:
My speed was so great,
Much increased was my weight,
Yet I failed to become any fatter!’”

— A. H. Reginald Buller

The Lure of the Limerick: An Uninhibited History (1967)

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This limerick plays on the variation of mass with velocity, as given by Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. It is a lesser known verse than another limerick penned by E.H. Reginald Bullard that was published in Punch magazine in 1923 under the title “Relativity”:

There was a young lady named Bright,
Whose speed was far faster than light;
She set out one day
In a relative way,
And returned on the previous night.

The better-known Relativity limerick has an interesting background, which is given here.

The limerick on the relativistic effects on weight can be found in the collection by Baring-Gould, The Lure of the Limerick: An Uninhibited History (1967), 6. As cited in John de Pillis, 777 Mathematical Conversation Starters, 277. (source)

A. H. Reginald Buller quote There was a young lady named Bright

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Science Quotes by A. H. Reginald Buller.
A. H. Reginald Buller - context of quote “There was a young lady named Bright” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)
A. H. Reginald Buller - context of quote “There was a young lady named Bright” - Large image (800 x 600 px)
A. H. Reginald Buller - context of quote “To her friends said the Bright one in chatter” - Medium image (500 x 350 px)

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)