Figure 1 – Gravity defying hat. (c) DE Wolf 2020.

It has been a while, almost a year infact, since I last did a “reassuring moments in physics post.” It may in fact be the case that Figure 1 ain’t so reassuring. It is not a great photograph! But I was truly struck by the question, how is it that my hat is defying gravity and standing on its end at the precipice of the bed. And of course, it is not defying gravity but merely creating the illusion of that. Gravity physically and figurative literally binds us to the Earth. We may be quite reassured of that! The magic of being able to fly, so prominent a theme in Peter Pan, still eludes us, unless we go into space and in doing so use up a whole lot of energy to do so.

“That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head.“

Charlie Chaplin