Isaac Asimov quote: "The most exciting phrase in science..."
John Anderson
In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North Florida,
I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students to
come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after trying
for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where the
statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if anyone
can help me.
Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
Sincerely,
John Anderson
John Anderson, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Public Understanding of Science
Department of Natural Sciences
University of North Florida
4567 St Johns Bluff Road, South
Jacksonville, FL 32224
jan...@unf.edu
+1-904-620-3988
Brian K. White
"John Anderson" <jand...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:obvL6.19887$4f7.1...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Hi everyone
>
> In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North
Florida,
> I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students
to
> come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
> The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
>
> "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the
most
> discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
>
> The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after
trying
> for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
> from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where
the
> statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
>
> I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if
anyone
> can help me.
>
> Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> John Anderson
I cannot place the book, let alone chapter or page, but I can narrow it
down just slightly.
Asimov wrote a *lot* of books, only some of which were fiction, only some
of which were science-fisction, only some of which were in the
"Foundation/Robot" series.
Since I recognize that quote, and since I have only ever read books of his
from that series, I am pretty sure it comes from that pool. This still
leaves over a dozen books.
Since I'm pretty sure I remember reading that very recently, I will place
at least one instance of that phrase in one of the three "foundation"
books that came out after Asimov's death, which were written by three
other authors, not Asimov.
That particular instance would not be an Asimov quote, at least not
directly, but I would not be at all surprised if Asimov did say it in one
(or more) of the "Foundation" books he wrote before his death.
I also beleive it would be a particular character named Hari Seldon who
would be saying or thinking that to himself, which eliminates over half of
the foundation/robot series. Someone else reading this could probably list
which books from the series take place during Hari's lifetime. This is not
certain, but it narrows down the initial "most probable" list.
I only bother saying any of this in case one or more others also only
*almost* knows and between us maybe it can be pegged, in case no one
happens to "just know".
I also wouldn't be at all surprised if it occures in more than one book.
For instance, his "three laws of robotics" are quoted in practically every
one. Although that's a special case, since it's an important basic
property of that universe that anyone picking up any book needs to be
aware of.
I also wouldn't be surprised if it occures in one or more of his
non-fiction works.
--
Brian K. White -- br...@aljex.com -- http://www.aljex.com/bkw/
+++++[>+++[>+++++>+++++++<<-]<-]>>+.>.+++++.+++++++.-.[>+<---]>++.
filePro BBx Linux SCO Prosper/FACTS AutoCAD #callahans Satriani
Michael Schilling
> Hi everyone
>
> In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North Florida,
> I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students to
> come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
> The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
>
> "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
> discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
>
> The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after trying
> for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
> from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where the
> statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
>
> I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if anyone
> can help me.
>
> Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
A google search (on funny, Asimov, Eureka) shows about 1500 hits, but none of
the few I spot-checked had a detailed attribution.
Captain Button
I'd guess that that quote is more likely from one of Asimov's
non-fiction books or articles popularizing science.
No idea which, sorry.
> Hi everyone
> Sincerely,
> John Anderson
--
"You may have trouble getting permission to aero or lithobrake
asteroids on Earth." - James Nicoll
Captain Button - [ but...@io.com ]
Lancelot appearing sideways
Captain Button <but...@eris.io.com> writes:
> Wild-eyed conspiracy theorists insist that on Sun, 13 May 2001
> 12:34:28 GMT, John Anderson <jand...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
> > Hi everyone
> > In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North Florida,
> > I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students to
> > come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
> > The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
> > "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
> > discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
> > The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after trying
> > for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
> > from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where the
> > statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
> > I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if anyone
> > can help me.
> > Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
> I'd guess that that quote is more likely from one of Asimov's
> non-fiction books or articles popularizing science.
>
> No idea which, sorry.
You might try I. Asimov, his autobiography. Just because I seem to
remember reading the quote recently, and I haven't read much of his
nonfiction recently. Of course, he might have used the quote in
several places, if it was a favorite of his. (It seems to be a
favorite of a lot of people.)
I can't imagine it being in any of his fiction; it doesn't seem like
something any of his characters would say in dialogue.r But I may be
wrong.
/
:@-) Scott
\
Aaron P. Brezenski
John Anderson <jand...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Hi everyone
>
>In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North Florida,
>I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students to
>come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
>The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
>
>"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
>discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
>
>The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after trying
>for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
>from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where the
>statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
>
>I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if anyone
>can help me.
>
>Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
It was in one of the essays (re-)printed in his anthology "The End of
Tomorrow". I'd say which, but the book is at the bottom of a cardboard box
in storage right now...
--
Aaron Brezenski
"Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean there isn't someone out to get me."
Card-Carrying Member of the Illuminati
dbt...@sp2n21.missouri.edu
: It was in one of the essays (re-)printed in his anthology "The End of
: Tomorrow". I'd say which, but the book is at the bottom of a cardboard box
: in storage right now...
Of course, this being an sf group, you could have gotten
away with saying it's in tertiary memory storage :-)
William Korvine
John Anderson <jand...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:obvL6.19887$4f7.1...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Hi everyone
>
> "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the
most
> discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
A Yahoo search for "that's funny eureka" turned hundreds of matches,
all of which attribute the quote to Asimov, but none of the first forty
or so that I looked at give more details.
William Korvine
kor...@hotmail.com
Aaron P. Brezenski
Possibly. :)
But unfortunately the pointer to it was corrupt and wouldn't have done anyone
any good-- the real name of the book was "The Edge of Tomorrow", published
by Tor in 1986.
Ogden Johnson III
>>> "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
>>> discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
>>I'd guess that that quote is more likely from one of Asimov's
>>non-fiction books or articles popularizing science.
>A google shows that even on the sites which reference certain quotes
>to his books still don't have a ref for this line.. I wonder if it
>was one he used often in his speeches?
Probably, but I never was privileged to be anywhere to hear one of
them. I'm sure he used it more than once in his F&SF essays which
were collected in a series of themed "F&SF Essay Anthologies" [for
lack of a better term]. Where I read it. More than once. I read all
of those collections. More than once. So damfiremember *which
specific* collection(s) the quote, or something similar, appeared in.
Hmmm. Guess I have to get all those collections again and reread them
yet again. Check back in about 5, 10 years, I may have an answer for
you. ;->
OJ III
Richard D. Latham
> In article <9dq6eo$imi$2...@dipsy.missouri.edu>,
> <dbt...@sp2n21.missouri.edu> wrote:
> >Aaron P. Brezenski (tina...@primenet.com) wrote:
> >
> >: It was in one of the essays (re-)printed in his anthology "The End of
> >: Tomorrow". I'd say which, but the book is at the bottom of a cardboard box
> >: in storage right now...
> >
> >Of course, this being an sf group, you could have gotten
> >away with saying it's in tertiary memory storage :-)
>
> Possibly. :)
>
> But unfortunately the pointer to it was corrupt and wouldn't have done anyone
> any good-- the real name of the book was "The Edge of Tomorrow", published
> by Tor in 1986.
>
<smile>
There's the problem you have when these uploaded Minds make a mistake
... you never know if it's bit-rot, or a virus
</smile>
--
#include <disclaimer.std> /* I don't speak for IBM ... */
/* Heck, I don't even speak for myself */
/* Don't believe me ? Ask my wife :-) */
Richard D. Latham lat...@us.ibm.com
e4e5
in the order published. I am up to "The Neutrino" (book # 70), Doubleday,
1966 (a very delightful read, by the way)
I seem to recall seeing this quite or one very similar to it recently, but
like Oscar, I'll be damned if i can find it. I think it was in one of the
intros to one of his non-fiction books.
I, too, will find it in a few years, and report back
John Anderson
Aaron, I checked out The Edge of Tomorrow yesterday from the library, and
skimmed through the entire book with no luck in finding the quotation.
There are several chapters that made my heart race when I started skimming
them, thinking that it HAD to be in this one, but it wasn't. There IS a
chapter in the book called "The Eureka Phenomenon", but I didn't see the
quote in there; could this be what you were thinking of?
Thanks again, everybody, and please keep trying to remember where it came
from!
John Anderson
"Aaron P. Brezenski" <tina...@primenet.com> wrote in message
news:9ds68a$7vl$1...@nnrp2.phx.gblx.net...
Rainy
> [post reformatted]
> Captain Button <but...@eris.io.com> writes:
>
>> Wild-eyed conspiracy theorists insist that on Sun, 13 May 2001
>> 12:34:28 GMT, John Anderson <jand...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>> > Hi everyone
>
>> > In the introductory physics labs I teach at the University of North Florida,
>> > I use a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov to help motivate the students to
>> > come to class expecting some sort of outcome to the experiments they do.
>> > The quote, which I found in someone's .sig file, is:
>
>> > "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most
>> > discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny...'"
>
>> > The owner of the .sig file didn't know where it came from, and after trying
>> > for almost two years to track it down, I still don't know where it came
>> > from. Does anyone here know? I would really appreciate knowing where the
>> > statement came from, so that I and my students can read it in context.
>
>> > I will check the newsgroup periodically over the next weeks to see if anyone
>> > can help me.
>
>> > Thank you very much for any help you can provide.
>
>
>> I'd guess that that quote is more likely from one of Asimov's
>> non-fiction books or articles popularizing science.
>>
>> No idea which, sorry.
>
> You might try I. Asimov, his autobiography. Just because I seem to
That's funny.. I read it as 'I, Asimov' first.
> remember reading the quote recently, and I haven't read much of his
> nonfiction recently. Of course, he might have used the quote in
> several places, if it was a favorite of his. (It seems to be a
> favorite of a lot of people.)
>
> I can't imagine it being in any of his fiction; it doesn't seem like
> something any of his characters would say in dialogue.r But I may be
> wrong.
>
> /
>:@-) Scott
> \
--
Jupiter and Saturn Oberon Miranda
And Titania Neptune Titan
Stars can frighten
- Syd