The theoretical physicists of the 20th century were no exception. Promiscuous chasers by profession, physicists ever-pursue objects that lie partially hidden to the immediate senses, but are evidently there behind nature’s many layers. The best physicists are able to tease a peek beneath all that partially-covered exterior, as any pickup artist would: with a mix of cleverness and straightforward arrogance.
From this article in the magazine Seed. [Link via Sean Carroll.]
While on this interesting topic, I must link to this very juicy stuff about professors lusting after students (and vice versa). Here's a great quote from this article:
Every once in a great while, such affairs make their way into the news, as one did several years back, when a professor of English, Jane Gallop, upon being asked whether she preferred males or females for sexual partners, replied that she preferred "graduate students."
Sometimes the students pick up the TAs.
ReplyDeleteOne of my profs in graduate school said he met his wife when he was taking a Computer Architecture class. She was one of the TAs.
I appreciated the Feynman quote at the end of the article.
Love is a matter of chemistry.
Sex is a matter of physics.
I dated a physics major once. It didn't work out. Oh well.
Hi HalfDesi: Thanks for your comment. Teacher-student romance in academia is generally frowned upon; so, there is also this 'forbidden fruit' angle to such a romance, which makes it even more, ummm, juicy.
ReplyDeleteBut, it is also a fact that everyone knows of some real-life romances in academia. These articles essentially bring these stories out in the open.