h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

While I don't really like Star Trek, I'm going to have to dispute that. Evidence: I was sitting playing Civilization 4 and talking to my housemate's girlfriend, hit end turn and finish research a technology:

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

"That's the voice of Mr Spock."

"Cool."

Proof!

(I'm sure it wouldn't have worked if I'd said "that's the voice of the guy who did the Bilbo Baggins song".)

not proof, anecdote

A bit late I know (as always)

I loved the alternate 'Don't Stop Me Now' lyric at post 33 on that Bad Science site, Ictoan!

And there's nowt wrong with 'Bilbo Baggins' (I just wish I could say the same for Bill Shatner's 'musical' output )

Indeed, although if 'fame' rather than 'cool' were being debated, the spoken word covers of Shatner would lie high...

A girl thinks Mr Spock is cool. What is 'cool' even for if not to impress girls? Proof! Q.E.D

Slightly late, and not entirely relevant, but here's Brian May's contribution to the advancement of science: "MgI Emission in the Night Sky Spectrum"

http://personal.ph.surrey.ac.uk/~phs1wc/brianmay/Brian-May-Physicist.html

How about Patrick Moore?

Patrick Moore - yeah, soemthing about him suggests he could covertly run off with your girlfriend.

As for Brian May, well yes, very very cool, but methinks its not so much the physics

"And there's nowt wrong with 'Bilbo Baggins' (I just wish I could say the same for Bill Shatner's 'musical' output )"

I like his rendition of "Common People", it's great!

"Patrick Moore - yeah, soemthing about him suggests he could covertly run off with your girlfriend."

Anyone remeber him as the Gamesmaster in the program of the same name? Now, in this forum i'm not sure if that earns him cool points or not. It does in my opinion, not least because the presenter of said show was a very youthful Dominick Diamond!

>I like his rendition of "Common People", it's great!<

Actually, I'd forgotten about that one, it is indeed rather good.

Ah, but that is the point...rock stars aren't all that cool...it's all image...May is cool because he was a member of one of the greatest rock bands, he gave up his PhD BUT carried on his passion of Astronomy to the point where he is on Sky At Night and now decades later is about to complete his thesis...now that's cool...from a geek's point of view. That's cool not through an image but being who you are and doing what you want to do. The fact that some people thing the physics/astronomy part isn't cool indicates a surface cool whereas true cool is just being who you are and to hell with anyone else.

Let's hear it for the 'Common People': http://youtube.com/watch?v=eISBTBwWKeE

O that 'Common People' rendition was painful

I do remember Gamesmaster - from when I was smaller than I am today - but it was a cool show, so yeah he has to get points for that. Certainly in this forum as you point out.

I remember GamesMaster - mainly cos a) they used to have the scantily clad young ladies on it (well, target audience of teenage boys...) and also because on one show the guest pairing was Michael Jackson and Macaulay Culkin (however it is spelled) as I recall.

Aren't all physicists cool, by reason of being physicists?

(I think physics is cool, even if nobody else does!)

Yes, the whole point of cool for me is not doing what the herd does but doing something as an individual.

Wearing the same clothes as everyone else and that years fashion which some nobody clothes designer has decided is going to be 'the look' for the year is not cool. Hence, that Trinny and Susannah paring are the most uncool women I have seen for sometime....

Being cool is doing what you want to do and wearing what you feel comfortable in even if it isn't the in thing...and the stuff you can do in physics is pretty cool.

Of course, the problem here is when the person who does all the above is a nerd...then they aren't cool. You can have a cool geek but not a cool nerd.

"You can have a cool geek but not a cool nerd"
Very true, and similar to the definition I use whenever I have to explain the difference.

And that's a thread in itself!