Physics 

 During a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen a student
had to "describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a
 barometer".

 He replied: "You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer,
 then lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground.

 "The length of the string plus the length of the barometer will equal the
 height of the building."

 This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that he failed the
 student who then appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably
 correct.

 The university appointed an independent arbiter who judged that the answer
 was indeed correct, but it did not display any noticeable knowledge of physics.

 To resolve the issue it was decided to call the student in and allow him
 six minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a
 minimal familiarity with the principles of physics.

 For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased.

 The arbiter reminded him time was running out. The student said he had
 several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't make up his mind which
to use. Eventually he said:

 "First, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper,
 drop it over the edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The
 height of the building can then be worked out from the formula H = O,5g x
 t squared. It's a bit tough on the barometer.

 "Or, if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer,
 then set it on end and measure the length of its shadow.

 "Then you measure the length of the skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter
it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to work out the
skyscraper's height.

 "But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it, you could tie a
short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at
 ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked
 out by the difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sq
 root(l/g).

 "Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier
 to walk up it and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer
 lengths, then add them up.

 "If you wanted to be boring about it you could use the barometer to measure
 the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground, and
 convert the difference in millibars to metres to give the height of the building.

 "But since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of
 mind and apply scientific methods, the best way would be to go to the
caretaker and say 'I'll give you this nice new barometer if you tell me the height
 of this building'."

 The student was Niels Bohr, nuclear physicist and the major contributor
to quantum physics for 50 years -and the only Dane to win the Nobel Prize
for Physics.

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