There’s an oft-told story about how Professor of Physics Robert Henry acquired his nickname, “Bullet Bob”:
One day Professor Henry was demonstrating the conservation of energy/momentum by firing a .22 rifle into the end of a log, which was suspended from the ceiling by two wires. Bob missed the end of the log and the bullet went through the wall into an adjoining Goodrich Hall lecture room.
But at a reunion about 20 to 25 years ago, my wife and I were privileged to sit next to Dr. Henry at one of our dinners. Perhaps the alcohol got the better of me, but I screwed up my courage to ask Dr. Henry how he had acquired his nickname. Without affirming or denying the first story, he told us that it may have been the speed with which he threw the softball in student/faculty softball games. Or, he said, it may have been the speed in which he conversed.
All of these three stories make sense, and I’ll leave it to the reader to form his or her own conclusions.
