<p>You don’t even need a gyroscope or anything remotely fancy to be intrigued. I actually wrote one of my Caltech essays about the experience of calculating out something I saw in my kitchen sink. It wasn’t the hardest problem I’d solved, but I figured it would be pointless to try to prove how much “better” I was at physics; I had been reading CC for a while and knew that the “better” approach probably wouldn’t work. So instead I chose an experience which had been exhilerating to me, and tried to use the essay to say something about myself. I think that the adcom will either love it or hate it, but as far as I’m concerned, either way is better than a “ho-hum” response.</p>
<p>Edit: It seems neapol1s has removed the reference to the gyroscope.</p>