Train Wheels Are Cones
Very few things surprised me as much as rail design when I was studying structural engineering. Surface tension and fluid dynamics were both trippy too, but I expected those things to be complicated and while surface tension blew my mind due to the relative simplicity of the proof, and fluid dynamics blew my mind because it was somehow 100x more complex than I estimated.<p>Walking into rail design was hilarious. I worked on motorcycles and did some car stuff. I figured it was obvious, and sorta dismissed this assignment as a joke. Nope. My dismissive intuitions were just flat out wrong. It kinda leaves an impression on you to sorta avoid saying you know for sure before putting in some amount of work.