Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- The Mystery of the Four-leaf Clovers
- A Fugue
- Tombstone Inscriptions
- The Two Lights
- MMM
- Acquiring Some Personal Items for MMM
- Difficulty in Explaining Relativity Theory in a Few Words
- Difficulty in Obtaining a Cup of Hot Tea
- Hail to Thee, Blithe Spirit
- C. D.
- Cupid's Problem
- The Lighter Life of an Editor
- The Two Kellys
- Some Debts
- Hypnotic Powers
- Founding the Echols Mathematics Club
- Meeting Maurice Fréchet
- Mathematizing the New Mathematics Building
- Finding Some Lost Property Corners
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- How I First Met Dr. Einstein
- Catching Vibes, and Kindred Matters
- A Pair of Unusual Walking Sticks
- A New Definition
- Dr. Einstein's First Public Address at Princeton
- Parting Advice
- Two Newspaper Items and a Phone Call
- Wherein the Author Is Beasted
- The Scholar's Creed
- The Perfect Game of Solitaire
- The Most Seductive Book Ever Written
- The Master Geometer
- Sandy
- The Perfect Parabola
- Three Coolidge Remarks
- Professor Coolidge during Examinations
- Professor Coolidge's Test
- Borrowing Lecture Techniques from Admired Professors
- My Teaching Assistant Appointment
- A Night in the Widener Memorial Library
- The Slit in the Wall
- Nathan Altshiller Court
- An Editorial Comment
- Intimations of the Future
- A Rival Field
- A Chinese Lesson
- The Bookbag
- Running a Mile in Twenty-one Seconds
- Winning the 1992 Pólya Award
- A Love Story
- Eves' Photo Album
- A Condensed Biography of Howard Eves
- An Abridged Bibliography of Howard Eves' Work
The Perfect Parabola
- Frontmatter
- Foreword
- Acknowledgments
- Contents
- The Mystery of the Four-leaf Clovers
- A Fugue
- Tombstone Inscriptions
- The Two Lights
- MMM
- Acquiring Some Personal Items for MMM
- Difficulty in Explaining Relativity Theory in a Few Words
- Difficulty in Obtaining a Cup of Hot Tea
- Hail to Thee, Blithe Spirit
- C. D.
- Cupid's Problem
- The Lighter Life of an Editor
- The Two Kellys
- Some Debts
- Hypnotic Powers
- Founding the Echols Mathematics Club
- Meeting Maurice Fréchet
- Mathematizing the New Mathematics Building
- Finding Some Lost Property Corners
- The Tennessee Valley Authority
- How I First Met Dr. Einstein
- Catching Vibes, and Kindred Matters
- A Pair of Unusual Walking Sticks
- A New Definition
- Dr. Einstein's First Public Address at Princeton
- Parting Advice
- Two Newspaper Items and a Phone Call
- Wherein the Author Is Beasted
- The Scholar's Creed
- The Perfect Game of Solitaire
- The Most Seductive Book Ever Written
- The Master Geometer
- Sandy
- The Perfect Parabola
- Three Coolidge Remarks
- Professor Coolidge during Examinations
- Professor Coolidge's Test
- Borrowing Lecture Techniques from Admired Professors
- My Teaching Assistant Appointment
- A Night in the Widener Memorial Library
- The Slit in the Wall
- Nathan Altshiller Court
- An Editorial Comment
- Intimations of the Future
- A Rival Field
- A Chinese Lesson
- The Bookbag
- Running a Mile in Twenty-one Seconds
- Winning the 1992 Pólya Award
- A Love Story
- Eves' Photo Album
- A Condensed Biography of Howard Eves
- An Abridged Bibliography of Howard Eves' Work
Summary
Perhaps the most frequently told anecdote about Professor Coolidge occurred one day during his analytic geometry class, while discussing the conic sections. Coolidge had the habit of twirling his gold watch and chain, back and forth about his index finger as he lectured. At the start of a particularly vigorous swing, the chain broke, and the valuable watch looped across the classroom and landed, shattered on a stone window sill. Unperturbed Professor Coolidge immediately seized the lesson involved and uttered, “Gentlemen, you have just observed a perfect parabola.”
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Mathematical Reminiscences , pp. 133 - 134Publisher: Mathematical Association of AmericaPrint publication year: 2001