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From: "John J. O'Shaughnessy" <jjos0001#NoSpam.aol.com> I read a story somewhere about the physicists at Los Alamos having problems with their conclusions while working on the design of the atomic bomb. That Albert Einstein was asked to assist the scientists working on the project. According to the story, the physicist were in awe of Einstein until he began asking very basic questions about physics which were addressed in depth during their college education. Although the questions could be answered by any good student, they proceeded to once again answer his questions in deference to his fame and lofty position in the scientific community. As they began the exercise they discovered several errors in their basic physics education. The began in earnest to question these basic principles that had been taught to them in school and were “givens” in their processes. More errors we discovered and as the “givens” unraveled the physicist went back to the drawing board and with a “ no assumptions” approach and in the end, were able to resolve all of the design issues and put the Manhattan project back on track. That he used a very successful Socratic teaching method based on asking questions rather than giving answers. Can you confirm if this story is true or not? -- John J. O'Shaughnessy (There have been no reactions to this yet. Please tell us if you know something - Joachim)