I can't believe this story is as old as it is! First published in
Scribner's Magazine in 1873, it is only dated by its sexism and its
contradition of Einstein. In order to win the hand of the beautiful
Abscissa Surd, our hero must either invent a perpetual motion machine
or figure out how to propel an object to an infinite velocity in a
finite time. (These conditions are posed by her father...Abscissa has
no say in the matter at all.) He does the latter...sort of.
Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica.
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Anonymous
So cheery and uplifting! I first read this story in high school 40 years ago and remembered most details of this charming story! If I won the lottery, I would build a tachypomp!
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