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'...Norton released Surely You are joking, Mr Feynman! in a small first printing early in 1985. It sold out quickly, and within weeks the publisher had a surprising best-seller.
One unhappy reader was Murray Gell-Mann. His attention focused on Feynman's description of the joy of discovering the "new law" of weak interactions in 1957: "It was the first time, and the only time, in my career that I knew a law of nature that nobody else knew." Gell-Mann's rage could be heard through the halls of Lauritsen Laboratory, and he told other physicists that he was going to sue..."
...Genius by James Gleick Page 411.
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Who wouldn't like to watch public spats between stalwarts? I, for one, would pay for the privilege @ Rs 100 only (I am a poor retiree).
And remember that Feynman and Gell-Mann were co-authors willy-nilly...and Telegdi wrote: "The F-G theory of beta decay is no F-G"
I don't want to mention names but in Physics, at least, quite a few celebrity co-authors had their spats, sometimes leading to a breakdown of friendships.
History and mythology are replete with spats between Father and Son, Mother and Son...not to speak of wife and husband.
The spat between Bharata and Kaikeyee stands out as the best example.
I don't know about other languages but whenever a Telugu movie is released with a title like: "Rama-Anjaneya Yuddham" or "Krishna-Arjuna Yuddham" it was a sell-out.
In my Father and Grandfather's generations, it was typical of the husband behaving like a tyrant having a say in all family decisions, especially involving money, till say the end of his middle age. The wife then remained a mute spectator believing that her husband is a know-all and can't do wrong. But, as any Management Guru knows, none can be infallible in all his decisions...some of them eventually bomb...like the divorce of the eldest daughter after a decade, or worse, the dowry death of the youngest. Then on the husband is on the defensive and wife takes over with retrospective effect. And it was always fun to watch the old man and his much younger wife arguing, insulting, even throwing chappals and ladles at one another. And it was never a tame draw. The wife wins resoundingly. After a few futile attempts, the husband knows how to hide when his wife is in one of her truculent moods; and either run away to the market or bury his head in The Hindu pretending nothing happened. My Grandfather on my mom's side developed a healthy attitude..he would look at us kids and smile and say: "See..see what sort of language she uses!"
Nowadays it is very common to watch two Bollywood stars or even cricketing stars coming to blows...maybe it is stunt.
In the Phy dept of IIT KGP, the canonical spat between two senior professors was the SDM-GXM pubic fight. DB and I both missed it unfortunately but several witnesses told us the story. It so happened that SDM had a monthly-rickshaw chap who would arrive at SDM's Qrs, pick him up and reach him at the BC Roy circle. But if GXM was found walking along, SDM would 'offer' him a lift (the rickshaw chap bore the combined heavyweights without grumbling...I guess he had lots of fun overhearing the two senior professors' arguments). One day however, SDM was so cut up with what he thought was GXM's treachery in the matter of promoting their Research Scholars into permanent SRA positions that SDM asked the rickshawala to stop at Harry's and threw GXM out, the latter trying to put up a brave face and snigger...he had to walk the rest of the distance.
There was another famous couple in the campus. The husband was a Senior Professor and his wife a home-maker. They loved visiting their colleagues' homes of an evening and spend an hour or two. Prof KVR told me that within minutes of everyone taking their seats on the sofa, the husband-wife combo would pick up an argument that would develop soon into a tiff, and then grow into a brawl, threatening to turn into a fist-fight, with the attendant shouts, tears, and insults. But meanwhile dosa and coffee would arrive and their tempers would cool down. And by the time they leave, the two would walk away arm-in-arm like long-lost buddies.
Finally, at Vizagh, our co-tenants had a rather a large family and were so angry with each other they would never speak to each other in public (or even in private...our walls were thin). But every other year there was a new arrival, as regular as the arrival of the Indian monsoon in Bombay.
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'...Norton released Surely You are joking, Mr Feynman! in a small first printing early in 1985. It sold out quickly, and within weeks the publisher had a surprising best-seller.
One unhappy reader was Murray Gell-Mann. His attention focused on Feynman's description of the joy of discovering the "new law" of weak interactions in 1957: "It was the first time, and the only time, in my career that I knew a law of nature that nobody else knew." Gell-Mann's rage could be heard through the halls of Lauritsen Laboratory, and he told other physicists that he was going to sue..."
...Genius by James Gleick Page 411.
*******************************************************************************************************
Who wouldn't like to watch public spats between stalwarts? I, for one, would pay for the privilege @ Rs 100 only (I am a poor retiree).
And remember that Feynman and Gell-Mann were co-authors willy-nilly...and Telegdi wrote: "The F-G theory of beta decay is no F-G"
I don't want to mention names but in Physics, at least, quite a few celebrity co-authors had their spats, sometimes leading to a breakdown of friendships.
History and mythology are replete with spats between Father and Son, Mother and Son...not to speak of wife and husband.
The spat between Bharata and Kaikeyee stands out as the best example.
I don't know about other languages but whenever a Telugu movie is released with a title like: "Rama-Anjaneya Yuddham" or "Krishna-Arjuna Yuddham" it was a sell-out.
In my Father and Grandfather's generations, it was typical of the husband behaving like a tyrant having a say in all family decisions, especially involving money, till say the end of his middle age. The wife then remained a mute spectator believing that her husband is a know-all and can't do wrong. But, as any Management Guru knows, none can be infallible in all his decisions...some of them eventually bomb...like the divorce of the eldest daughter after a decade, or worse, the dowry death of the youngest. Then on the husband is on the defensive and wife takes over with retrospective effect. And it was always fun to watch the old man and his much younger wife arguing, insulting, even throwing chappals and ladles at one another. And it was never a tame draw. The wife wins resoundingly. After a few futile attempts, the husband knows how to hide when his wife is in one of her truculent moods; and either run away to the market or bury his head in The Hindu pretending nothing happened. My Grandfather on my mom's side developed a healthy attitude..he would look at us kids and smile and say: "See..see what sort of language she uses!"
Nowadays it is very common to watch two Bollywood stars or even cricketing stars coming to blows...maybe it is stunt.
In the Phy dept of IIT KGP, the canonical spat between two senior professors was the SDM-GXM pubic fight. DB and I both missed it unfortunately but several witnesses told us the story. It so happened that SDM had a monthly-rickshaw chap who would arrive at SDM's Qrs, pick him up and reach him at the BC Roy circle. But if GXM was found walking along, SDM would 'offer' him a lift (the rickshaw chap bore the combined heavyweights without grumbling...I guess he had lots of fun overhearing the two senior professors' arguments). One day however, SDM was so cut up with what he thought was GXM's treachery in the matter of promoting their Research Scholars into permanent SRA positions that SDM asked the rickshawala to stop at Harry's and threw GXM out, the latter trying to put up a brave face and snigger...he had to walk the rest of the distance.
There was another famous couple in the campus. The husband was a Senior Professor and his wife a home-maker. They loved visiting their colleagues' homes of an evening and spend an hour or two. Prof KVR told me that within minutes of everyone taking their seats on the sofa, the husband-wife combo would pick up an argument that would develop soon into a tiff, and then grow into a brawl, threatening to turn into a fist-fight, with the attendant shouts, tears, and insults. But meanwhile dosa and coffee would arrive and their tempers would cool down. And by the time they leave, the two would walk away arm-in-arm like long-lost buddies.
Finally, at Vizagh, our co-tenants had a rather a large family and were so angry with each other they would never speak to each other in public (or even in private...our walls were thin). But every other year there was a new arrival, as regular as the arrival of the Indian monsoon in Bombay.
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