Word: reductio
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This is a reductio ad absurdum not only for common sense but for the theory of Relativity. Timidly at first but more boldly of late, some astronomers have suggested other possible causes for the redshift, viz. cosmic dust scattered through space or a slowing of light's velocity after millions of years of travel. Once as fervid a believer in the expanding universe as Sir Arthur Eddington, Dr. Hubble was ready last week to admit that it might be an illusion. "The cautious observer," said he wryly, "refrains from committing himself to the present interpretation and employs the colorless...
...write the life of a plain man with all the pomp & circumstance of a full-dress biography might seem a satirical idea; in unkinder hands than Phyllis Bentley's such a book might be a reductio ad absurdum of both subject and method. But Authoress Bentley's intentions and accomplishment are honorably serious. Though she sets the stage with such reverent care that the reader expects a notable if not tycoonish hero, the curtain has not been up long before alert spectators realize that the spectacle will be unspectacular. Authoress Bentley succeeds, however, in transfiguring her average...
...than any other important cinema company. This is doubtless due in part to Vice President & Producing Chief Irving Thalberg's "two star" system for feature pictures. Grand Hotel gave Producer Thalberg a chance to enlarge upon his system to an extent which other producers hoped would prove a reductio ad absurdum. The cast of Grand Hotel is the most celebrated, the most expensive in cinema history. It would surely have included other Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stars (Norma Shearer, Clark Gable, Marie Dressier, Robert Montgomery, Marion Davies, Buster Keaton, Jackie Cooper, John Gilbert, Ramon Novarro) if there had been...
Last week a group of Chicago aldermen decided that there had been too many tag days in their city. They planned a reductio ad absurdum. At one session of the City Council they got their drowsy colleagues to ordain tag days for the following: The Brewers' & Bartenders' Union; Tom, Dick & Harry, unemployed; ex-King Alfonso;* the Chicago White Sox (which has lowest standing in the American League). When the drowsy aldermen discovered how they had been tagged, the ordinances were revoked...
Harvard, dear, old, trustworthy Harvard, is planning a course for prison wardens. If this is not "reductio ad absurdum" to the limit, we are at a loss to understand what it is.... Just what degree will be awarded at the conclusion of this work in higher education is not as yet suggested but very likely it will be something imposing like "B. B. R." meaning "Bachelor of Bum Rehabilitation...