CW: Your reference to Mr. Van der Waals and the compression of gases left me somewhat puzzled (No, don't bother explaining it - I'm not a chemist - I only work with ideal gases), but started me thinking ... Wouldn't it be interesting if, sometime, we could all have a discussion about something everyone surely agrees upon, such as what causes lift. (and drop names like Newton and Bernoull - and maybe even Navier and Stokes).
Or, perhaps, planes on conveyor belts...