{"id":8751,"date":"2013-10-25T08:58:42","date_gmt":"2013-10-25T12:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scienceblogs.com\/principles\/?p=8751"},"modified":"2013-10-25T08:58:42","modified_gmt":"2013-10-25T12:58:42","slug":"historical-physicist-halloween-costumes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/2013\/10\/25\/historical-physicist-halloween-costumes\/","title":{"rendered":"Historical Physicist Halloween Costumes"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s that time of year again when people start thinking about Halloween costumes– SteelyKid is apparently planning to re-use her Peter Pan outfit from last year– and the conceptual costumes<\/a> post from a while back has proved enduringly popular at this time of year. If you’re not into conceptual art, though, maybe some historical cosplay is more your thing, so here are some totally serious ideas if you want to go to your local physics department’s Halloween party as one of the great physicists of the last half-millennium.<\/p>\n

Sexy Niels Bohr<\/strong><\/p>\n

This was actually the trigger for this post, when somebody tweeted about a “sexy Doppler effect” costume, and the phrase “sexy Niels Bohr” popped into my head. Look, I’m not getting enough sleep these days, OK? Anyway, while it might sound like an oxymoron, check this picture from 1922:<\/p>\n

\"Niels<\/a>
Niels Bohr circa 1922, from Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

So, you know, it’s not completely ridiculous. And he was an athlete, too, which helps– Ernest Rutherford famously disdained theory, and got some ribbing when he hired Bohr, to which he responded “He’s not a theorist, he’s a football player<\/em>!”<\/p>\n

So, you know, a little Brylcreem, a soccer ball, and a lot of mumbling and equivocation, and you’re good to go.<\/p>\n

Sexy Isaac Newton<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait of Isaac Newton circa 1689.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Sure, he’s famously supposed to have died a virgin, but look at that magnificent hair. A flowing wig, a haughty attitude, and some unconventional ideas about the connection between Christian theology and alchemy, and you’ve got a costume. Bonus points for exhibiting mild symptoms of mercury poisoning.<\/p>\n

Psycho Killer Max Planck<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Max<\/a>
Max Planck around the time he solved the black-body radiation problem. From wikimedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m really inordinately fond of this picture.<\/p>\n

Sexy Ernest Rutherford<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ernest<\/a>
Ernest Rutherford, probably around 1900. From Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Mustache, booming voice (once when Rutherford was recording a radio show being broadcast to the US, a colleague happened by and asked “Why does he need a microphone?”), pocket full of radium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sexy Erwin Schrödinger<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Erwin<\/a>
Erwin Schrodinger, image from Wikimedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bow tie, goofy grin, someone else’s spouse.<\/p>\n

Henry Cavendish<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Only<\/a>
Only known portrait of Henry Cavendish, obtained by subterfuge. Image from Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Even for the sake of a joke, I can’t bring myself to put “sexy” and “Henry Cavendish” together. He was legendarily odd<\/a>, trumping even P.A.M. Dirac in the social awkwardness department, and that takes some doing.<\/p>\n

So: rumpled coat, big hat, stand on the landing outside the party trying to work up the courage to go in. If anybody speaks to you, squeak and run away.<\/p>\n

Sexy Galileo Galilei<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Galileo<\/a>
Galileo Galilei, king of night vision. Image from Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(image source<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Skip the party. When asked about it, say the Inquisition had you under house arrest.<\/p>\n

Condescending Louis de Broglie<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Say<\/a>
Say my name. Go ahead.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just looking for another chance to re-use this joke<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Slutty Richard Feynman<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nah. Too easy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s that time of year again when people start thinking about Halloween costumes– SteelyKid is apparently planning to re-use her Peter Pan outfit from last year– and the conceptual costumes post from a while back has proved enduringly popular at this time of year. If you’re not into conceptual art, though, maybe some historical cosplay… Continue reading Historical Physicist Halloween Costumes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,7,37,11,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history_of_science","category-physics","category-pop_culture","category-science","category-silliness","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chadorzel.com\/principles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}