

On Physicists and Mathematicians and Mountain-Climbing - antiform
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/02/20/science/20CLIM.html

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bootload
_"... Both physics and climbing seem to draw people who are comfortable living
on society's fringes .... It always seems ready with another surprise,
something we couldn't have anticipated ..._ :

Great article. Climbing probably achieves 3 objectives at once - it's quiet,
nobody bugs you. Working on a problem? There is nothing worse than interrupted
thought. So moving away from people distractions works. You can let your mind
relax and wonder while you exert yourself on something totally unrelated.

Done my climbing for the day ~
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/bootload/2954173256/>

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jhayes
I have a book called "The Art and Craft of Problem Solving" which uses
climbing terms to describe various techniques and tools used in IMO problems.
It wasn't a very forced analogy at all.

Also, for interest's sake, a few years ago a physicist
(<http://insectnation.org/projects/nightclimbing/>) even scanned in an old
book on climbing; t'was pretty nifty! (but slightly off topic here probably).

------
hugh
I know a few physicists who are serious mountain climbers. But I know more who
are serious drinkers. Where's the article about that?

~~~
antiform
Right here. [[http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/03/19/who-says-
czech...](http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2008/03/19/who-says-czech-
scientists-have-a-drinking-problem.php)]

