Discover
/
Article

The Deborah Number

JAN 01, 1964
The following lines are from an after‐dinner talk presented at the Fourth International Congress on Rheology, which took place last August in Providence, R. I. Marcus Reiner, research professor at the Israel Institute of Technology, is currently in the United States as a visiting professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn.
M. Reiner

In 1928 I came from Palestine to Easton, Pa., to assist Eugene Cook Bingham at the birth of Rheology. I felt strangely at home. There was Bethlehem quite near, there was a river Jordan and a village called little Egypt. The situation was, however, also slightly confusing. To go from Bethlehem to Egypt, one had to cross the river Jordan, a topological feature which did not conform to the original. Then there were, here, places such as Allen town to which there was no analogy. And this could lead to strange situations, such as when a girl at school was asked where Christ was born and replied, “In Allentown”. When corrected by “No, in Bethlehem,” she remarked, “I knew it was somewhere around here.”

This article is only available in PDF format

More about the authors

M. Reiner, United States.

Related content
/
Article
The ability to communicate a key message clearly and concisely to a nonspecialized audience is a critical skill to develop at all educational levels.
/
Article
With strong magnetic fields and intense lasers or pulsed electric currents, physicists can reconstruct the conditions inside astrophysical objects and create nuclear-fusion reactors.
/
Article
A crude device for quantification shows how diverse aspects of distantly related organisms reflect the interplay of the same underlying physical factors.
/
Article
Events held around the world have recognized the past, present, and future of quantum science and technology.
This Content Appeared In
pt-cover_1964_01.jpeg

Volume 17, Number 1

Get PT in your inbox

pt_newsletter_card_blue.png
PT The Week in Physics

A collection of PT's content from the previous week delivered every Monday.

pt_newsletter_card_darkblue.png
PT New Issue Alert

Be notified about the new issue with links to highlights and the full TOC.

pt_newsletter_card_pink.png
PT Webinars & White Papers

The latest webinars, white papers and other informational resources.

By signing up you agree to allow AIP to send you email newsletters. You further agree to our privacy policy and terms of service.