An astrophysicist has made an incredible, breakthrough discovery, and it gets press in all the papers and is heralded by his peers as well. Naturally, he embarks on a tour giving lectures at universities around the country.
For the tour, he has a driver to get him smoothly from one pace to the next, and with so much time together, the two become friends. After a couple of months and stops at dozens of locations, the driver says, "You know, you've got an easy gig."
"Is that so?" asks the scientist incredulously.
"Yeah, all you do is go from place to place giving the same talk, and you're making a fortune."
"Well, it's not as easy as it looks, I'll have you know. Do you think you could give a lecture on astrophysics?"
"I've heard your talk two-dozen times, I'm sure I could give it."
So a bet is made for a hundred dollars. The driver will attempt to give the speech. If it goes well, he wins. If it goes poorly, the professor will intervene, explain the bet humorously and triumphantly, and take over with no harm done to his reputation.
At the hotel, they dress in each others clothing, the scientist decked out in the driver's uniform and cap, and the driver wearing a suit and tie and spectacles.
At the hall, the driver does a stunningly good job of delivering the speech, and sitting in the back, the professor is astonished.
As the applause dies down, the driver begins to step down from the podium, but he's stopped by the voice of the host over the microphone saying, "I think we have some extra time. Does anyone have any questions for the professor."
Hands go up all over the auditorium. The driver begins to sweat, and the professor does too--it's gone on too long to reveal the ruse now.
The first questioner asks an impossibly complicated and technical question. Clearly, this person knows what he's talking about.
The professor puts his head in his hands, waiting for things to come unglued.
"Well," begins the driver, "I must say, that is the most idiotic question I have ever heard."
A stunned silence as the other would-be questioners put their hands down. The man who'd posed the question is clearly unimpressed by this posturing, believing he's exposed a flaw in the theory.
"Really, that's an impossibly simplistic question, and I'm shocked that you felt like that was worth my time and the time of this audience."
He went on, "In fact, to show you just how stupid your question is, I'm going to let my driver in the back of the auditorium answer it for you."
The Scientist and the Driver
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