SAN DIEGO (TNA) – Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton get credit for their scientific discoveries, but the research of Russell Clark may have the most impact on naughty Americans.

Never heard of him? Figured as much, but according to science historian Alex Boese, back in 1978, Clark did an

experiment that helped determine the exact odds of getting lucky with a stranger you meet on the street.

Clark, a social psychologist at Florida State University, asked his students to go up to attractive members of the opposite sex and say these exact words: “I have been noticing you around campus. I find you to be attractive. Would you go to bed with me tonight?”

The results held up to conventional wisdom: 75 percent of the male respondents were raring to go, but not one woman agreed. In addition, the guys who declined were almost apologetic about it, claiming they were already involved.

Then, Clark had his students take a more subtle approach  and ask, “Would you like to come over to my apartment tonight?” and 69 percent of men were willing, plus 6 percent of women.

However, the result that yielded the best response from females was simply: “Would you like to go out with me tonight?” Fifty percent of women responded positively to that approach.

Boese, who discusses the naughty experiment in a new book, “Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments”  (Harcourt), says that it took Clark 10 years to get his results published.

“The scientists thought it was stupid at first,” Boese said. “But it has since been recognized as an important study.”

Clark himself learned from it as well and joked that if he had known that all he had to do was go up to a woman and ask her out, his own dating years would have been a lot easier.

But while Clark’s experiment has useful real world applications to guys on the make, it’s just one of many bizarre studies that have made to figure out what makes humans tick in a sexual sense.

Others include….

Arousal On A Creeky Bridge

In 1974, researchers in Vancouver decided to see if humans were more likely to be turned on by a potential partner they met in a fear-inducing environment. So they set up shop near a 450-foot-long bridge and had an attractive woman strike up conversations with men by saying she was doing a study about “the effects of exposure to scenic attractions on creative expression.”

The interviewer showed them a picture of a woman holding her hand over her mouth and asked the men to write a story about it while standing near the rickety bridge. After the interview, she gave them her number and asked them to call her if they wanted more information about the experiment.

Thirteen of the 20 men interviewed called the woman back. Plus, the stories they wrote were fairly erotic.

Researchers then had the woman do the same thing in a less threatening environment, a park bench, and when the numbers were tallied, only seven of the 23 men interviewed called her back.

Based on the findings, the researchers hypothesized that people are more likely to find someone sexy if they meet them under situations that already prompt strong emotions, which may be why horror movies are such great date movies.

The Hard-To-Get-Woman

Although it’s believed that men like women who are hard to get, a study at the University of Wisconsin where prostitutes were asked to tell 50 percent of their customers they might not be available next time proves otherwise.

Turns out, the customers who had the hard-to-get hookers were less likely to call back for seconds, which led the researchers to believe that men like women who are cold and standoffish to every other guy EXCEPT them.

Love At Last Call

That old song, “Don’t The Girls All Get Prettier At Closing Time,” has a basis in scientific fact.

Boese says back in 1978, University of Virginia researchers asked bar patrons to rate the attractiveness of their fellow customers at two times: 9:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m.

Inevitably, folks rated the customers of the opposite sex higher the closer it was to last call, but also gave lower marks to members of their same sex.

Another study  from 1996 confirmed these findings but said the “beer goggles” phenomenon only occurred to singles. Married folks didn’t feel the need to lower their standards.

Wireless Flash News Service contributed to this story.

Images: SeducedByACougar.com

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