Edison Shows Practical Solution to Difficult Math Problem
Edison “brought out a pear-shaped glass bulb intended for lamp experiment…and gave it to Upton [a highly trained mathematician], asking him to calculate its cubic contents in centimeters. Upton drew the shape of the bulb exactly on paper, and got the equation of its lines, with which he was going to calculate its contents, when Edison again appeared and impatiently asked him for the results. The mathematician, after having worked for an hour or so, said he was about halfway through and would need more time. ‘Why,’ said Edison, ‘I would simply take that bulb, fill it with liquid, and measure its volume directly.’ That is he would pour the liquid contents of his bulb into a graduated cylinder for measuring volumes, and would get it in five minutes. Apparently Upton had not thought of that one, but only of obtaining the most precise measurements. He was taken aback. The story, which has been repeated in many different ways, is supposed to illustrate contrast between the practical, ‘Edisonian’ rule-of-thumb method and the mathematical scientists’ different mode of attack on the same problem.” (p. 193)