It's So Obvious

"Caution! Wet Painting!"

James McNeill Whistler is reported to have
displayed a just completed painting to Mark Twain.

Mark looked at the painting judiciously from
a variety of angles and distances while Whistler
waited impatiently for the verdict.

Finally, Mark leaned forward and, making an
erasing gesture with his hand, said, "I'd eradicate
that cloud if I were you."

Whistler cried out in agony, "Careful! The paint
is still wet."

"That's all right," said Mark coolly. "I'm wearing
gloves."

*****************************************

"It's So Obvious"

Science has a language of its own which sometimes
puzzles laymen. The word "obvious" is a case in point.

Thus a professor of physics, deriving some profound
point of theory for the class, scribbled an equation on
the board and said, "From this, it is obvious that we
can proceed to write the following relationship -- "
and he scribbled a second equation on the board.

Then he paused. He stared hard at the two equations
and said, "Wait a while. I may be wrong -- "

He sat down, seized a pad and started to write furiously.
He paused for thought, crossed out what he had written,
and began over. In this fashion, half an hour passed
while the class held its breath and sat in absolute silence.

Finally, the professor rose with an air of satisfaction and
said, "Yes, I was right in the first place. It is obvious that
the second equation follows from the first."
Received on Wed Jan 10 09:32:45 2007