Dear Peter,

> Do you read German? I might have a spare copy (I need to
> check it, no promise at this point in time) which I could
> send you. Pls provide me your postal address (off-list).


Yes, I read German. Thank you for trying to find the book for me.


> Pulling to the extend of beyond the range of Hooke's
> law. Yes, it would be interesting to encourage 'spoon
> benders' to try other means of deformation such as
> pulling or pressing.


Yes, and trying to press markings on the pieces with softer materials,
aluminum coins or even with patterned plastic pieces. Fingerprints would be
convincing.


>> Very simple. First you straighten the paperclips leaving a hook
>> in one end. Then you push in one paperclip or possibly
>> two twined around each other through the hole. Then
>> you push two paperclips in, grasp the former paperclips
>> with the hooks, pull them tightly against the wall
>> and twine the ends around each other. When you repeat the
>> last step many times, then you have a scrunch accomplished.

> I see your point. Yet I have objections:

> 1. the method you suggest should result in scratches on the
> inside wall of the container as you accomplish the
> deformation by pressing the paperclips against the wall. The
> hardness of the metal is higher than the one of the container;
> it is easy to obtain scratches on such surfaces. However, no
>such scratches can be detected (at least on the photos; of course,
> this one would not be sufficient to determine:
>
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/images/3851671112/sr=1-1/qid=1211418911/ref=dp_o\
therviews_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&img=1&qid=1211418911&sr=1-1).
> I will supply you with a better one which I'll not attach to a
> public posting due to copyright issues.


Thank you for the high quality photo. Actually the paperclips are softer
than the glass according to the Mohs scale and wikipedia:
4 to 5 Iron
6 to 7 Glass, Vitreous pure silica
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness


Unalloyed soft steel is practically as hard as "iron" in the table, so that
it is no wonder there are no visible scratches.


You just gave a very important point. That is checking for microscopic
markings and traces revealing what has happened with the pieces.
Investigating the fracture surfaces and so on.

> 2. 'your' method will work as soon as the sphere is, say,
> half-way filled, but how should it work with the very first
> paperclips inserted there that simply fall to the bottom of
> the container, resting there way out of reach of your hook ...

No problem. You can turn the sphere so that the hole is down.


Returning to the photo of the sphere. You can notice that there are hooks in
the middle parts of the scrunch and the twisted ends are protruding out,
revealing the method of accomplishing the scrunch. If the free ends of the
twists are very short, it is worth checking if there are traces of tools
there, pliers markings for example.

Yours,
Olavi