Monday 25 February 2008

The Lenin of the Week

Taking example from Tommaso's column The Say of the Week, I could not resist advertising this quote:
The Higgs mechanism is just a reincarnation of the Communist Party: it controls the masses. Lenin.
I found it in a recent article of Gian Giudice, who learnt it from Luis Alvarez-Gaume who knew Lenin personally. Lenin's relationship with particle physics is in fact more intimate than you think. He was living and teaching in Geneva in the same century when the LHC construction began. For some period of time he was staying in a house at 6, rue des Plantaporrets in Jonction, the most progressive district of Geneva. By sheer coincidence (or historical necessity) me and my TH friends were often having parties in that same building. There is an inscription on the building commemorating Lenin, though the neighbours much better remember the parties.

Other famous sayings of Lenin:

Sometimes theory needs a push.
Asymptotic freedom will not satisfy the hungry masses.
It is impossible to predict the time and progress of the LHC. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.
One man with a grant can control 100 without one.
A paper cited often enough becomes the truth.
Every cook should be able to run Monte Carlo.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jester,

honored to have inspired you, and quite amused by Lenin's quotes.
In particular I lol'led at the one about grants.

Cheers,
T.