questions,
Yeah, I kind of thought he might! Make sure he keeps open the option of being an engineer -- most people with science degrees end up working in engineering. Of course, at his age, science and engineering probably seem to be sort of the same thing -- basically it's a difference in orientation: solving practical problems using science or advancing abstract science for its own sake. I myself have worked in both.
Your son's problem can be milked to understand quite a lot of different issues, by the way. The way I described it was from the "frame of reference" of the "stationary" earth. I think the reason a lot of us get it wrong (I started to disagree with your son -- and then realized the kid had it right and it was I who was confused) is that we tend to view it from the frame of reference of the falling plane. Do that very carefully, and you still get your son's answer. Don't do it carefully, which for some reason seems to be the natural inclination for most of us adults, including me, and you get the wrong answer.
Einstein, incidentally, had a great skill for asking just this kind of �na�ve� question that turns out not to be so na�ve after all, and thinking it through very clearly to its conclusion � doing this led to both his special theory of relativity and to his theory of gravitation (�general relativity�). Some time in the next few years, I think your son might find interesting Bondi�s �Relativity and Common Sense� which presents special relativity in just this way � no knowledge of algebra required, just a willingness to think through carefully what is happening. And I�m pretty certain your son will enjoy Gamow�s �Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland� (now expanded into �Mr. Tompkins in Paperback�); I would read one of the editions by Gamow, not the ones that have been �updated.� Both should be available through your public library or through interlibrary loan.
Incidentally, this way of thinking is not only very powerful in science and engineering but also in economics and finance; personally, I think it has some utility in dealing with issues in politics and religion, but that is a bit more controversial!
The real question is how to get all kids to start wondering about these sorts of deceptively �simple� questions. I think one of the reasons that so many kids can zoom through math and science through at least the middle school level, but then get stalled at advanced high school or college level, is that they learn how to follow the rules but never stop to wonder and ask �childish� (but not really childish!) questions. Beyond second-year college math and physics, there is almost none of the �just follow the rules� stuff and it�s almost all �think carefully about what�s really happening� stuff. In a sense, you need to be a child to handle advanced math and physics.
Anyway, I hope your son keeps bugging you and everyone else with these sorts of questions. Any advice on how to encourage other kids to do the same?
All the best,
Dave
