“In desperation I asked Fermi whether he was not impressed by the agreement between our calculated numbers and his measured numbers. He replied, "How many arbitrary parameters did you use for your calculations?" I thought for a moment about our cut-off procedures and said, "Four." He said, "I remember my friend Johnny von Neumann used to say, with four parameters I can fit an elephant, and with five I can make him wiggle his trunk." With that, the conversation was over.” SaidI CanMomentsUseRememberUsedNumbersFiveFourCuttingFitConversationMy FriendsAgreementImpressedElephantsDesperationArbitraryProceduresCalculationsTrunksParametersNot ImpressedVon Neumann Author:Freeman Dyson
“Many years before when I had serious back pain from a sports injury, the surgeons said they would explore my spine and "figure it out." Out of frustration I had impulsively opted for the procedure. They ended up fusing the vertebrae. It left me debilitated. In hindsight, I blamed myself more than the surgeons. I had pressed them for a solution when in fact none was apparent because the cause of the pain was obscure.” YearsSaidFactsPainLeftCausesSportsFiguresSeriousSolutionsTherapyInjuryFrustrationObscureProceduresSurgeonsSpineHindsightBack Pain Author:Jerome Groopman