Nobel gossip
I just had a 5-minute chat with Murray Gell-Mann over lunch. (LOLs omitted)
G - did you start this place?
M - yeah, it was mostly me.
...
M - universities can't do what we do. They have departments, grants, etc.
G - I was at CMU the last two years, and they were pretty good about interdisciplinarity.
M - CMU? what?
G - Cárnegie Mellon.
M - ah, Car-nay-gie Mellon.
M - I know Herb Simon. Herb was a good guy.
M - once we were sitting in the Presidential Science Committee(?), and Herb slipped me a note:
M - it said: "Murray, help me destroy the humanities!"
G - he was only half-joking, then?
M - he wasn't joking at all! He hated them.
...
G - I've read Feynman's book: "Surely you're joking"
M - Nonsense! Feynman spent huge amounts of time creating stories about himself, so he could write about them later.
M - One time he decided to never brush his teeth again.
M - He had horrible teeth.
M - We had the same dentist, and the dentist would bring him books and articles, but he never convinced Feynman.
M - He thought there was no proof that brushing your teeth did anything.
M - He told me: "Murray, you're a very conventional person, you're like a salesman... you wash your hands after going to the bathroom before you go to lunch! You only need to wash your hands if you pee on them."
M - in the Faculty Lounge, the men had to wear suits. When it was lunchtime, Feynman would take off his suit and tie, and hang it up in his office...
When he arrived (without a suit&tie), he would go to the cloakroom where they had this "public" suit and tie, for the people who forgot to bring theirs... and the suit was old and scratched, and the tie was bright orange.
G - he sure enjoyed the attention, huh?
UPDATE: this interview with Feynman confirms his skepticism about tooth-brushing.
G - did you start this place?
M - yeah, it was mostly me.
...
M - universities can't do what we do. They have departments, grants, etc.
G - I was at CMU the last two years, and they were pretty good about interdisciplinarity.
M - CMU? what?
G - Cárnegie Mellon.
M - ah, Car-nay-gie Mellon.
M - I know Herb Simon. Herb was a good guy.
M - once we were sitting in the Presidential Science Committee(?), and Herb slipped me a note:
M - it said: "Murray, help me destroy the humanities!"
G - he was only half-joking, then?
M - he wasn't joking at all! He hated them.
...
G - I've read Feynman's book: "Surely you're joking"
M - Nonsense! Feynman spent huge amounts of time creating stories about himself, so he could write about them later.
M - One time he decided to never brush his teeth again.
M - He had horrible teeth.
M - We had the same dentist, and the dentist would bring him books and articles, but he never convinced Feynman.
M - He thought there was no proof that brushing your teeth did anything.
M - He told me: "Murray, you're a very conventional person, you're like a salesman... you wash your hands after going to the bathroom before you go to lunch! You only need to wash your hands if you pee on them."
M - in the Faculty Lounge, the men had to wear suits. When it was lunchtime, Feynman would take off his suit and tie, and hang it up in his office...
When he arrived (without a suit&tie), he would go to the cloakroom where they had this "public" suit and tie, for the people who forgot to bring theirs... and the suit was old and scratched, and the tie was bright orange.
G - he sure enjoyed the attention, huh?
UPDATE: this interview with Feynman confirms his skepticism about tooth-brushing.