Durians and the Law of Gravity

Yes, durians are fruiting all over campus. For NIE folks the nearest durian trees are near the Admin Building side facing the student hostels.

Talking about durian season raises the old story about how Sir Issac Newton discovered the law of gravity. Apparently he had been sitting under an apple tree when an apple fell on his head. This led him to wonder why objects fell down rather than up or sideways.

Some Singapore scholars have claimed that Newton was not the first person to discover the law of gravity. The honour of this discovery should have gone to a Singaporean instead! These Singapore scholars claim that the Singaporean had discovered the law of gravity when he sat under a durian tree and a durian fell on his head. Unfortunately, this Singaporean discoverer did not survive long enough to finish his dissertation on the subject of gravity.

Another version of this story has the Singaporean discoverer sitting under a coconut tree.

Well, the moral of the story is “Don’t sit under durian trees or coconut trees”.

Re-trievia recalled: Excerpts from Year 2001
Tan Wee Kiat