Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Archimedes: Because it had the inclination.
Aristotle: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.
Andre Ampere: To keep up with current events.
Alexander Graham Bell: To get to the nearest phone.
Marie Curie: She was radiating with enthusiasm as she crossed the road.
Nicolaus Copernicus: Despite the evidence of your senses I can show that it is mathematically simpler to describe it as the road passing under the chicken.
C. J. Doppler: For its effect on passer-bys.
Thomas Edison: She thought it would be an illuminating experience.
Richard Feynman: It didn’t cross the road to the other side. It actually came back to where it started but was momentarily moving backward in time.
Jean Foucault: It didn’t. The rotation of the earth made it appear to cross.
Galileo: To get a better look at the stars.
Karl Gauss: Because of the magnetic personality of the rooster on the other side.
Werner Heisenberg: It was uncertain if it could make it, but wanted to try on general principles.
Newton: Because an apple fell on its head.
Ohm: There was more resistance on this side.
Pascal: It was pressured to cross the road.
Wolfgang Pauli: There already was a chicken on this side of the road.
Volta: The other side had more potential.
James Watt: It thought it would be a good way to let off steam.
I do realize that some of these are funnier the greater your understanding of the various scientists’ views and work, but I hope they gave you a chuckle as they did me. And yes, I’d love to hear in comments if you know of other approaches not listed.
