The latest Seed Magazine contains an article about philandering physicists. Lest you be mistaken and think that they are talking about fringe crackpots, the illustrious roster contains names such as Richard Feynman and Erwin Schrödinger. Feynman, of course, is famous for making a maverick out of himself, like making quotable quotes like this one:

Physics is like sex: Sure, it may give some practical results but that’s not why we do it.

Schrödinger honorable mention was for supposedly came up with his famous wave equation after a romantic tryst with an ex-girlfriend in a Swiss chalet in 1925. (He also had enough money to use pearls as earplugs.) Not that he’s entirely to blame: Hermann Weyl, colleague and collaborator, was reputedly his wife’s lover. (Looks like I’ll have to look into checking out a biography real soon.)

Feeling left out for being a chemist? Fear not. Marie Curie (of radium fame) was once accused of seducing her husband Pierre’s student.

Which just goes to show, scientists are people, not just the revered figures embalmed in dry textbooks hiding behind esoteric symbols. Another Feynman quote:

On the infrequent occasions when I have been called upon in a formal place to play the bongo drums the introducer never seems to find it necessary to mention that I also do theoretical physics.

For more weirdness, check out the Berkeley photo archive of mathematicians proving theorems while supposedly wearing sarongs. (Purists’ note: some of these sarong candidates have to be interpreted with the most liberal of artistic licenses.)


The Sarong Theorem Archive

Miscellaneous weirdness: Margaret Atwood’s remote-operated robotic pen, the UNoTchIt, for coast-to-coast book signings.