(via email)
Andre Ampere: ‘To keep up with current events.’
Albert Einstein: ‘Did the chicken really cross the road or did the road move beneath the chicken?’
Alexander Graham Bell: ‘To get to the nearest phone.’
Robert Boyle: ‘She had been under too much pressure at home.’
James Watt: ‘It thought it would be a good way to let off steam.’
Thomas Edison: ‘She thought it would be an illuminating experience.’
Jean Foucault: ‘It didn’t. The rotation of the earth made it appear to cross.’
Karl Gauss: ‘Because of the magnetic personality of the rooster on the other side.’
Gustav Hertz: ‘Lately, its been crossing with greater frequency.’
Georg Ohm: ‘There was more resistance on this side of the road.’
Erwin Schrodinger: ‘Since the wording of the question implies the absence of an observer (else the fowl’s motivation might easily be deduced), it is evident that the chicken simultaneously did and did not cross the road. In the face of this, any speculation as to the bird’s purpose must be viewed as mere sophistry – and as such is beyond the bounds of this discussion.’