The moral of how Archimedes solved a hard problem

Sol Robeson:

The king asks Archimedes to determine if a present he's received is actually solid gold. Unsolved problem at the time. It tortures the great Greek mathematician for weeks - insomnia haunts him and he twists and turns in his bed for nights on end.

Finally, his equally exhausted wife, she's forced to share a bed with this genius, convinces him to take a bath to relax. While he's entering the tub, Archimedes notices the bath water rise. Displacement, a way to determine volume, and that's a way to determine density - weight over volume. And thus, Archimedes solves the problem.

He screams "Eureka" and he is so overwhelmed he runs dripping naked through the streets to the king's palace to report his discovery.

Sol Robeson:

Now, what is the moral of the story?

Maximillian Cohen:

That a breakthrough will come.

Sol Robeson:

Wrong!

The point of the story is the wife. You listen to your wife, she will give you perspective, meaning. You need a break, you have to take a bath or you will get nowhere.

A transcript from Pi (1998).