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丹麦物理学家，尼尔斯·波尔致力于研究原子结构和原子辐射并提出了量子化原子结构模型，因而获得了1922年诺贝尔物理学奖。而他在物理学方面的造诣早在他上大学的时候，就已经有所展露了。
There was once said to be a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen. “Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer1.”
One student 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 incensed2 the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter3 to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but he decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal4 answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.
For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn’t make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up, the student replied as follows,“Firstly, 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 = 0.5g × t squared5. But bad luck 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 arithmetic6 to work out the height of the skyscraper.”
“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 pendulum7, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational8 restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (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 merely wanted to be boring and orthodox9 about it, of course, 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 millibars10 into feet to give the height of the building.”
“But since we are constantly being exhorted11 to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor’s12 door and say to him ‘If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper’.”
The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the Nobel prize for Physics.
据说在哥本哈根大学的一次物理学学位考试中，有这样一道试题：“描述如何利用一个气压计确定一幢摩天大楼的高度。”
一名学生的答案是：“把一根长绳系在气压计的颈部，然后把气压计从大楼的屋顶降到地面。绳子的长度加上气压计的长度就是大楼的高度。”
这个非常原始的答案令主考官大为恼火，他判这个学生不及格。学生提出申诉，理由是其答案的正确性是无可争辩的，于是学校委派一位独立的仲裁员来解决此事。仲裁员裁定学生的答案是正确的，但是他决定把学生叫进来，让他在六分钟之内给出一个口头答案，至少能体现出他对物理学基本原理哪怕一丁点儿的知晓。
学生静静地坐了五分钟，蹙额沉思。仲裁员提醒他时间快到了，学生回答说，他有了几个极为贴切的答案，只是没想好到底用哪一个。被催促之下，学生做出了如下回答：“首先，可以将气压计带上楼顶，从边缘扔下去，测出它落地时所用的时间。大楼的高度就可以用自由落体公式h=1/2gt2计算出来。不过气压计就倒霉了。”
“或者，假如阳光不错，可以量一下气压计的高度，然后把它直立，量出其阴影的长度。接着测量出大楼的影长，此后要算出楼高只是简单的比例运算的问题了。” “不过，如果你想使之具有高度的科学性，可以在气压计上系一段短绳，先在地面上，然后在楼顶上让它像钟摆一样摆动。楼高可以根据单摆的周期公式，由重力回复力的差值得出。”
“或者，假如楼外有安全梯的话就更简单了。沿梯子上去，以气压计的长度为标准划分大楼的高度，然后把它们加起来。”
“如果你只想要一个乏味的正统答案，当然，你可以用气压计分别测出楼顶以及地面上的气压，再把其差值的单位‘毫巴’换算成‘英尺’，就得到了楼高。”
“但是，既然我们经常被鼓励练习独立思考并运用科学的方法，毫无疑问，最佳方法就是敲开门卫的门，对他说‘如果您想要一个上好的新气压表，告诉我这幢大楼的高度，我就把这个送给您’。”
这名学生就是尼尔斯·波尔，丹麦唯一一位诺贝尔物理学奖获得者。
刘宇婷 摘译自Great People
There was once said to be a question in a physics degree exam at the University of Copenhagen. “Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer1.”
One student 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 incensed2 the examiner that the student was failed. The student appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and the university appointed an independent arbiter3 to decide the case. The arbiter judged that the answer was indeed correct, but he decided to call the student in and allow him six minutes in which to provide a verbal4 answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity with the basic principles of physics.
For five minutes the student sat in silence, forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to which the student replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn’t make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up, the student replied as follows,“Firstly, 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 = 0.5g × t squared5. But bad luck 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 arithmetic6 to work out the height of the skyscraper.”
“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 pendulum7, first at ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the difference in the gravitational8 restoring force T = 2 pi sqroot (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 merely wanted to be boring and orthodox9 about it, of course, 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 millibars10 into feet to give the height of the building.”
“But since we are constantly being exhorted11 to exercise independence of mind and apply scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor’s12 door and say to him ‘If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me the height of this skyscraper’.”
The student was Niels Bohr, the only person from Denmark to win the Nobel prize for Physics.
据说在哥本哈根大学的一次物理学学位考试中，有这样一道试题：“描述如何利用一个气压计确定一幢摩天大楼的高度。”
一名学生的答案是：“把一根长绳系在气压计的颈部，然后把气压计从大楼的屋顶降到地面。绳子的长度加上气压计的长度就是大楼的高度。”
这个非常原始的答案令主考官大为恼火，他判这个学生不及格。学生提出申诉，理由是其答案的正确性是无可争辩的，于是学校委派一位独立的仲裁员来解决此事。仲裁员裁定学生的答案是正确的，但是他决定把学生叫进来，让他在六分钟之内给出一个口头答案，至少能体现出他对物理学基本原理哪怕一丁点儿的知晓。
学生静静地坐了五分钟，蹙额沉思。仲裁员提醒他时间快到了，学生回答说，他有了几个极为贴切的答案，只是没想好到底用哪一个。被催促之下，学生做出了如下回答：“首先，可以将气压计带上楼顶，从边缘扔下去，测出它落地时所用的时间。大楼的高度就可以用自由落体公式h=1/2gt2计算出来。不过气压计就倒霉了。”
“或者，假如阳光不错，可以量一下气压计的高度，然后把它直立，量出其阴影的长度。接着测量出大楼的影长，此后要算出楼高只是简单的比例运算的问题了。” “不过，如果你想使之具有高度的科学性，可以在气压计上系一段短绳，先在地面上，然后在楼顶上让它像钟摆一样摆动。楼高可以根据单摆的周期公式，由重力回复力的差值得出。”
“或者，假如楼外有安全梯的话就更简单了。沿梯子上去，以气压计的长度为标准划分大楼的高度，然后把它们加起来。”
“如果你只想要一个乏味的正统答案，当然，你可以用气压计分别测出楼顶以及地面上的气压，再把其差值的单位‘毫巴’换算成‘英尺’，就得到了楼高。”
“但是，既然我们经常被鼓励练习独立思考并运用科学的方法，毫无疑问，最佳方法就是敲开门卫的门，对他说‘如果您想要一个上好的新气压表，告诉我这幢大楼的高度，我就把这个送给您’。”
这名学生就是尼尔斯·波尔，丹麦唯一一位诺贝尔物理学奖获得者。
刘宇婷 摘译自Great People