普拉契克（George Placzek, 1905-1955）喜欢抬杠。

物理系附近有一个带餐厅的游泳池，我们经常去那里吃午饭和游泳。有一次，普拉契克穿着泳裤来了，服务员让他返回更衣室，因为按照规定，男人必须穿全套泳衣。

普拉契克指着几个游泳者，他们有一条肩带松开了，露着半个胸。

那没关系，服务员告诉他，“只要盖住一边就行了。”

“还有什么要求吗？”

“没了。盖住一边就行了。”

第二天，普拉契克又来了。他穿着一件沿中线剪开的泳衣，完全盖住了右边，而左边用绳子吊着。当然，毫不意外的是，服务员还是不让他进，尽管他坚持认为，自己已经一丝不苟地满足了着装的条件。

——物理学家派尔斯（Rudolf Peierls）的回忆

Placzek liked a good argument. Close to the Physics Department in Leipzig was a swimming pool with a restaurant, where we used to go or lunch and a quick swim. Once, Placzek appeared in swimming trunks, and the attendant wanted to send him back to the changing room because the rules required that men wear full swimsuits. George pointed to several bathers who had one shoulder strap undone and half their chests uncovered. That is all right, he was told by the attendant, "as long as one side is covered." ---- "What other require ments are there?" ---- "That is all. One side must be covered." The next day he appeared in a swimsuit he had bisected vertically, so that it covered his right side completely, and the left side was held up with string. Of course he was not surprised that the attendant turned him back again, in spite of his insistence that he had meticulously met the conditions as stated.