. Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:32:59 -0700 From: Richard Hake <rrhake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Reply-To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: Net-Gold@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [Net-Gold] Street-Fighting Mathematics - ADDENDUM In my previous post I forgot to include this Philip Morrison quote: "There is a kind of power over the theoretical and experimental studies in which [the prospective physics graduate student] is engaged which is difficult to define, but whose presence is perhaps more important than the knowledge which is more formal and complete. There is one test of such power which is at the same time a remarkably apt method for its development. The method was the common and frequently amusing practice of Enrico Fermi, perhaps the most widely creative physicist of our times. Fermi delighted to think up and a once to discuss and answer questions which drew upon everyday experience, and upon the ability to make rough approximations, inspired guesses, and statistical estimates from very little data. A few samples are indispensable: How much does a watch gain or lose when carried up a mountain? How many piano tuners are there in the city of Chicago?" Philip Morrison (1963) REFERENCES [Tiny URL's courtesy <http://tinyurl.com/create.php>.] Morrison, P. 1963. "Fermi Questions," Am. J. Phys. 31(8): 626- 627; online to subscribers at <http://scitation.aip.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=AJPIAS&Volume=31&Issue=8>. .