"As a young man, my fondest dream was to become a geographer. However, while working in the customs office I thought deeply about the matter and concluded that it was far too difficult a subject. With some reluctance, I then turned to physics as a substitute." Attributed to Albert Einstein but actually by Duane F. Marble, Professor of Geography at Ohio State University. Thanks to our own Jim Woods for tracing this urban legend back to the guilty party, who readily admitted it to him! Here is Professor Marble's "confession":

"That has been trailing me around ever since I made it up and put it on my office door at SUNY at Buffalo (geography had taken over part of the physics building and they were rather vocal about their unhappyness (sic). Jerry Dobson wrote a column about it in what used to be GIS World several years ago."

The relevant articles are: Dobson, J.E. 1997. Did Einstein really say geography is harder than physics? GIS World, 10, 1. and Dobson, J.E. 1997. No, Einstein didn't say geography is harder than physics! GIS World 10, 5. :-D