Nobel Prize Winner Got Free House and Free (as In Beer) Beer 118
slashchuck writes "Niels Bohr is one of the greatest scientists who ever lived and a favorite of his fellow Danes when he lived in Copenhagen. Apparently, after he won the Nobel Prize in 1922, the Carlsberg brewery gave him a gift – a house located next to the brewery. And the best perk of the house? It had a direct pipeline to the brewery so that Bohr had free beer on tap whenever he wanted."
Who is writing these headlines? (Score:1)
???
Re:Who is writing these headlines? (Score:5, Funny)
The headlines have never really been very good. Just be glad when they have any relation to the story whatsoever.
Re:Who is writing these headlines? (Score:5, Funny)
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And with free suds in the house for friends and frat boys alike... Neil almost certainly was no Bohr...
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"free as in speech" means you should use the "without censure" definition of "free", as "free speech" means "speech without censure."
"free as in beer" means you should use the "without cost" definition of "free", as "free beer" means "beer without cost."
The purpose of the clarification is to prevent people from incorrectly parsing potentially ambiguous statements like: "this software is free", which could be interpreted as either: "this software is available without cost" or "this software is available with
Re:Who is writing these headlines? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Why do you preface that with "to be honest"? Are you trying to imply that the rest of the time you're lying?
Re:Who is writing these headlines? (Score:5, Funny)
That is an outstanding question, one of the best I read on Slashdot. Let me get back to you, I should give you a response back in like 10 minutes.
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???
Please, expand on your question.
Re:Who is writing these headlines? (Score:4, Funny)
<quote><p>???</p></quote>
<p>Please, expand on your question.</p></quote>
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There you go. Hope that helped.
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Someone is giving us these headlines free (as in Bohr).
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But the cat with the message collar just showed up now, for some reason.
Re:Hey Rip van Winkle! (Score:5, Funny)
This was actually the very first story ever posted on Slashdot, back in 1922. It seems that the story tape has looped on itself- someone tell Timothy he needs to change to the next tape before he posts another re-run.
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Another damned dupe. Figures.
Just call him: (Score:1)
Niels Beer
Pizza conveyer belt anyone?
The value of beer (Score:5, Funny)
See how Denmark did this, world? Neils Bohr assembled a scientific network centered in Copenhagen that vastly increased the speed and dissemination of discoveries. Quantum mechanics and nuclear physics were all born in his backyard. Scientists came from all around the world to debate with him. Why? Because he had free beer.
If you want flying cars and starships, perhaps we need to buy Stephen Hawkings a brewery. Scientists are still human, dammit!
This is why USA must return to prohibition (Score:2, Funny)
Glad that works for Denmark. Here in USA we have come to realize that science is all lies straight from the pit of hell. Ergo, beer must be prohibited.
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He invented Rock & Roll, and surfing, too. Pretty amazing guy!
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Kill the brain cells!!! (Score:1)
See how Denmark did this, world? Neils Bohr assembled a scientific network centered in Copenhagen that vastly increased the speed and dissemination of discoveries. Quantum mechanics and nuclear physics were all born in his backyard. Scientists came from all around the world to debate with him. Why? Because he had free beer.
That NERD is making more money than me! Quick! Find a way to kill his brain cells.
Blogspam (Score:5, Interesting)
So the blog cites as a source, another blog. If you look in the comments for that blog, the author says you should google it, and links to a reddit page. That, in turn, links to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okJnQIjELY4#t=2m55s [youtube.com]
It's a nice story, but I'd like to actually hear it from someone who can actually supply details. Bohr's got a lot of cool stuff - like how his lab was used to hide smuggled Nobel medals from the Nazis (by dissolving them: http://www.archive.org/stream/adventuresinradi01heve#page/27/mode/1up [archive.org] ).
I'm sure there's more to the story than just 'he had free beer on tap'.
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Free beer, especially on tap - is a good story any day.
And I've got a picture of Niels Bohr on my wall of scientists, where I drink my beer, so 3 times cheers for mr. beers ...Bohr!
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Beer shower
Beer cereal
Beer cooking
Beer slides
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Oh dang...I promised myself I wouldn't booze for a while, but you're giving me too many ideas...
Beer Sausages...oh wait, they exist... ...(oellebroed in Danish)
Beer bread
Beer googles with actual beer in them...
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Beer goggles is a great idea!
"He looks at the world thru beer tinted goggles!" :)
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use beer instead of milk. Its good,
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But did anyone touch his Carlsberg?
Re:Blogspam (Score:5, Funny)
My guess would be Alan Turing, but then again...
(yes, I went there!)
Re:Blogspam (Score:4, Informative)
Neat story. Decided to DDG for a bit more detail.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/10/03/140815154/dissolve-my-nobel-prize-fast-a-true-story [npr.org]
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Author of story here. The mansion still exists. It's not open year round, but physics conferences are still held there, and when they are, the free beer doth flow.
The Carlsberg Foundation still funds a ton of scientific research. (http://bit.ly/TtLvza), and it was the Foundation that gave Bohr the money to start the Danish Institute of Physics.
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Relevance to the story still undetermined but it does link to a Carlsberg group associated with both a brewery and scientific endeavors.
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Re:Blogspam (Score:4, Insightful)
I tend to agree. In this case a direct line probably meant someone at the brewery had the job of delivering a new keg whenever Bohr sent his son over to say, "Må vi gerne ha' mere øl, tak." Beer is very important in Denmark.
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Did I have too much beer or Slashdot all of a sudden start to support UTF-8? Lessee... "Não entendo patavina de dinamarquÃs, mas gostaria da traduÃão".
Well, it's more than 10 years... UTF-8 should be mature enough by now. Bless ya!
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Back in my Amiga computin days, (early 90's) there were a group of 4 college kids who claimed to be living in that house, and claimed the pipe was there but had been shut off at the brewery end next door. Being college kids, they would slip the nightwatch a few kronar and turn it on occasionally, but the next shift would note it and shut it off, so they always had a pint or 3 in the fridge.
Whether they were BSing the troops or not I've no clue, but it did make for good reading when they'd throw a party
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Should work for whiskey though, shouldn't it?
European hospitality... (Score:3)
Europe: they give you a house next to the brewery, and fresh, free beer for life. :/
The US: they give you an alias [wikipedia.org].
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Europe: they give you a house next to the brewery, and fresh, free beer for life. The US: they give you an alias [wikipedia.org]. :/
In the UK (according to the wiki page you linked), you get the threat of incarceration:
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+1 Informative
-1 Whoosh
Ulterior Motives? (Score:1)
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So they took one of the greatest minds in a generation, and attempted to kill it with large amounts of alcohol. What were they worried about?
Given the fact that this is Denmark we're talking about, you're making the rather large and stupid assumption that large amounts of beer did not directly contribute to creating one of the greatest minds in a generation.
Some countries are proud of their beer and heritage, and respect it so, as do their drinkers.
Others invent NASCAR in an attempt to make a heritage to pin to their shitty beer, and instead master the art of the DUI and hangover.
Interesting facts about the Bohr House beer (Score:1)
Engaging The tap at the Bohr house would produce exactly one pint. No more or no less could be produced at a time. And if you over imbibed, before drinkers could fall into unconsciousness they had to emit discreet amounts of vomit.
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And no two beers could be in the same state at the same time.
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And no two beers could be in the same state at the same time.
Which begs the question, If i have an unopened 12 pack, are the bottles empty or full?
I think it's about time to collapse some wave functions, cheers!
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Nobody asked you if it was begging the question, we said begs the question.
Nobody gives a damn about your mistranslation of petitio principii.
"Begs the question" is just a variation on "begging the question", you silly arse.
"This prompts the question whether..." versus "Prompting the question whether..."
It's Friday afternoon and I'm bored at work.
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N/T
Proper Carlsberg in Denmark is a fine beer (albeit eyewateringly expensive), it's not the same as the shitty stuff you get on draft in the UK.
One of the greatest scientists (Score:4, Funny)
"Niels Bohr is one of the greatest scientists who ever lived"
Indeed, and at almost seven feet of his stature, you would be ill-advised to argue with this great Dane. *ducks*
Model Atomic Physics... (Score:2)
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Most awesome product of biology: Sophia Loren in her youth?
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Can't speak to that, but the obvious answer is "Natalie Portman and hot grits" since this is Slashdot.
I'd cry... (Score:1)
...every time I'd have to let the tap run so that I could get to the cold fresh beer...
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To explain the joke:
If the beer is not run for long enough, the beer sitting in the pipe will become warm. To get to the fresh, cold beer, you would have to run the tap for a few seconds to flush out the warm beer that had been sitting. This is, however, a tragic waste of beer that could otherwise have been rechilled and drunk. Thus, he weeps for the lost beer.
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Beer should be room temperature, so letting the tap run to get cold beer would ruin, not improve, the beer.
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I'd argue that it depends on the beer. With Guinness I'd certainly agree. I don't drink Carlsberg but some quick googling reveals that 4-6C is its ideal drinking temperature.
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Even the Brits want their beer at 'basement' temperature.
Warm beer is just an insult used by people who drink beer so bad it has to be drunk slushy. Like Carlsberg (on topic).
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I thought the Brits drank warm beer because they had Lucas refrigerators?
( -- old motorist/motorcyclist)
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It is Denmark. You would rather worry about frozen beer in tap.
The difference a culture makes (Score:2)
In the Netherlands, scientists get respect. A house and free beer? How cool is that?
Not like the US, where if you're too "smart" you're a "nerd", "geek", a social outcast.
--PM
Re:The difference a culture makes (Score:4, Informative)
Uh, Denmark, dude. Let's not set up the fight between the Dutch and the Danes like what happened in Springfield (Little Orphan Millie).
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The Dutch are not Danes, although they both have a great respect for beer.
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Back in the day(USA):
geek - practicle intellegence. Generally sports a t-shirt, long hair, a beard and jeans. Works on things like computers, ham radios. The ubermensch form of a geek would be a hacker, or the elite skillwise of geek skills.
nerd - book smart, generally never seen without a buttondown shirt and slacks.(never too classy or current).
Hacker also has counter culture implications like punk rock, heavy metal, or outlaw biker does. Despite what anyon
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Sorry, mate, didn't know this was your lawn. I'll leave now.
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Is there a non-free-as-in-beer Free Beer? (Score:2)
Any free/open source beers?
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That's one of the unlikeliest, but most comforting things I think I've ever read about a politician.
Modern lousy priorities. (Score:3)
Where are the genuine North American scientists like Einstein or Feynman? I am not talking about famous science journalists but famous scientists doing science in North America. I can tell you more about Tom Cruise's kid than I can about the state of Canadian science. I am looking forward to Jack Reacher but would trade in the entire movie industry for nuclear fusion or a huge leap in stem cell therapy.
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Then maybe you should get off your dead ass and read more science journalism and less tabloids.
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1922: This story is 90 years old (Score:1)
Unless slashdot is using a different definition of "news" than I am, something that happened 90 years ago isn't news.
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noice (Score:1)
Carlsberg used to give free beer for the workers too, and drinking during the work was allowed just as long you weren't excessively drunk.
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Carlsberg used to give free beer for the workers too, and drinking during the work was allowed just as long you weren't excessively drunk.
I've known several people who worked for breweries. They all drank, and frequently slept, during work hours.
Pipeline is a myth (Score:3)
I am fairly sure that the pipeline is a myth. There certainly was no mention of it when I toured that particular Carlsberg factory (now almost dismantled).
The house does, however, come with free beer, but not by pipeline. Instead the workers would deliver the beer every day. I was told that when Niels Bohr first moved in, a worker came to the house and asked how much he wanted each day. Apparently he said "12". However, Carlsberg workers never count in single beer bottles, they count crates... At least there was enough beer.
Whether you believe THAT story is up to you.
Beer Everything! (Score:2)
Wonder how hard it would have been to divert the beer line directly into the plumbing. Beer from the faucets, shower, and toliet! Water the lawn? Beer! Its what plants crave!
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No, he got a 2nd Nobel in Belchology
Re:And after that day (Score:4, Funny)
No, he got a 2nd Nobel in Belchology
And the third and final time that particular prize was awarded was when a young Albert Einstein, using just a chisel and hammer in his little shed, managed to split the Tasmanian beer atom and actually put bubbles in beer.
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He never made another scientific contribution to the world.
Being part of the Manhattan Project comes to mind. But of course, you were probably being sarcastic, right? :)
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And here’s another fun bit of speculation for you. Bohr certainly didn’t rest on his laurels after winning the Nobel Prize, which he won for his investigations into the structure of the atom and early work in quantum mechanics. With the help of the Danish goverment and Carlsberg’s Foundation, Bohr had founded the Institute for Theoretical Physics in 1921. During the next decade, Bohr worked with physics to lay the foundation of the principles of quantum mechanics, and it was in 1927 that he developed the concept of complementarity, a key principle in quantum mechanics.
Complementarity is far from intuitve, and many of the basic concepts of quantum mechanics are similarly hard to grapple with. Indeed, Bohr had a series of famous debates with Albert Einstein, in which Einstein was very reluctant to accept quantum mechanics. Einstein resisted many of its implications for years.
So how did Bohr keep his mind supple and flexible, ready to accept new ideas when his peers like Einstein couldn’t? Well, here’s the thing – there are several studies that indicate that being drunk can actually improve your creativity. That’s because it prevents your mind from being able to focus, so it more readily drifts from one connection to another, which can yield creative solutions to problems.
So was free beer the reason why Bohr was able to make great strides in developing quantum mechanics? Okay, probably not – but I’m sure a few late night drinking sessions with other physicists didn’t hurt.
Re:And after that day (Score:4, Informative)
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Not to mention the fact that bubbles in beer led to the invention of the bubble chamber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_chamber [wikipedia.org]
Hey, if Zombie Nels Bohr showed up in our pub, his money would be no good. I'd buy him a couple, and all my friends too.