Tanushree Poddar - Stay Youthful Forever: Crisp guide to remain agile & young in appearance

It is impossible for us who are now accustomed to present-day science, technology and medicine to gauge the mixture of wonder and disbelief that those breakthrough scientists must have felt at the moment of their success and glory. But when we delight in a modern gadget or overcome pain with a medical miracle, we seldom remember the scientists who sweated it out to realise their dreams that now light up our lives.

Their pleasure was in their sweat and in perspiration they drew their inspiration. These geniuses lived in a fascinating world of their own, unmindful of their personal lives and careless in worldly matters. Beyond the shadows of serious science and cloistered labs, these dishevelled scientists once in a while lit up their lives with a lighter side.

From this lighter side, we have here the forgetfulness of Norbert Weiner, the earthy humour of Newton, the brilliant banter of Paul Erds, the jolly jokes of Albert Einstein, the practical fun of Thomas Edison, the true lies of Guglielmo Marconi, the innocent humour of Werner Heisenberg, the humble brilliance of Srinivas Ramanujan and an inveterate teetollar in CV Raman. Their forgetfulness tickles us to laughter and their self-effacing wisdom provokes a postscript.

It is difficult to distinguish between true stories, trivia and anecdotes. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines an anecdote as: a short entertaining story about a real incident or person; an account regarded ultimate origins in the Greek anekdota (things unpublished). Likewise, while most incidents in the book are of recent origin, those who could authenticate them are no longer present. But these real-life incidents are variously circulated and were compiled from books, magazines, websites and other media.

Yet, only a thin line exists between fact and fiction. So if a more enlightened reader knows that any of the anecdotes is not true, and brings this to our notice, it will be withdrawn from future reprints.

So here is the true spice in science

K. Krishna Murty

One day at the Princeton University, a phone call was received enquiring about the address of Dr Einstein. Since the University authorities felt that the professor should be shielded from curious callers, the request was politely rejected.

The caller made repeated calls and finally refused to keep the phone down and spoke in an urgent whisper: Please do not tell anybody. I am on my way home and have forgotten my way. I am Dr Einstein!

Miss Mary Stilwell joined Edison Labs. Soon she proved a capable and invaluable asset to the Labs.

Once in the middle of a serious experiment, Edison said softly, Mary!

Miss Mary said, Well, what is it Alva?

Edison took a coin from his coat pocket and tapped a message in Morse code, HAVE BEEN THINKING MUCH ABOUT LATELY STOP WILL YOU MARRY ME QUERY.

Mary blushed and smiled. She replied, tapping, THAT WOULD MAKE ME HAPPY STOP.

And it did. He married her.

Albert Einstein once said, Gravity cannot be held responsible for people falling in love.

Should we say that also for the Morse code?