3rd slide: That’s real. It is the opening of States of Matter by David L. Goodstein (first published in 1975; later editions by Dover). The full passage is usually quoted as: “Ludwig Boltzmann, who spent much of his life studying statistical mechanics, died in 1906, by his own hand. Paul Ehrenfest, carrying on the work, died similarly in 1933. Now it is our turn to study statistical mechanics. Perhaps it will be wise to approach the subject cautiously.” The joke is dark, but it is based on real history: - Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) was one of the founders of statistical mechanics. He died by suicide while on vacation in Austria. His health and mental state had reportedly been deteriorating, and he had also faced strong opposition from some physicists who rejected his atomic interpretation of thermodynamics. - Paul Ehrenfest (1880–1933) was a major figure in statistical physics who continued and developed Boltzmann’s ideas. He died by suicide after years of personal and professional struggles. Goodstein’s line is famous among physicists because it takes a genuinely tragic coincidence and turns it into a very dry academic joke: “two giants of this field met terrible ends… now we are going to study it, maybe be careful.” The funny part is also that statistical mechanics itself is about finding order in systems with enormous numbers of random components — so starting the textbook with two pioneers’ tragic stories is such an unexpectedly dramatic opening that it became a physics meme. We share the finest science memes, feel free to join us for more. - @sciencefunn