Professor Aesop's The Crow and the Pitcher

Abstract

Here is a delightful, eclectic problem-solving approach to the time honored fable of CP. One pair of pages about ten pages into the work will give a sample idea. The point is well stated in the few words of text: After several attempts, he gave up in despair. Four pictures show the crow banging his beak against the pitcher, trying to kick it over, trying to squeeze into its mouth legs first, and finally sitting against it exhausted. Each of the three attempts is illustrated in a little cloud nearby showing him, respectively, as a kind of woodpecker, as a karate expert, and as a deep sea diver. Closer inspection shows that the spread is divided into four sections fanning out from the bottom center. Each section has a determination meter that traces his dropping energy. The eclectic art throws in blueprints and charts along the way. The pitcher is consistently a blue-and-white of a different dimensionality and style from its surroundings. A thirst-o-meter, an ambient thermometer, and a pebble indicator track developments. Two pages near the end complete the story by noting the result (and saved his life) and the key elements (necessity, perseverance, and invention). Two further pages outline the scientific method in six steps according to Crow. I had not known that this press is right here in Berkeley.