Humor

Light Material

HELLO DEAR BOOKSELLER - (15,795 bytes; 3 pages): An actual email exchange, involving a Nigerian, who expresses a wish to purchase books from this website, and Vinnie Carbone, our Manager of International Sales, who explains how this can easily be done...

If Airlines Were Based on Computer Operating Systems - (4,750 bytes; 1 page): A copy of material that has been circling the Net, looking for a place to land...
Haiku DOS - (6,740 bytes; 1 page): Imagine if instead of cryptic text strings, your computer produced error messages in Haiku...

Voltaire. 1759. Candide - (557,634 bytes; 104 pages): Is there a more classic piece of humor than this? Besides it is in keeping with the biological orientation of this site, since it offers an alternative to evolution in explaining adaptation:

"It is demonstrable," Pangloss said, "that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end. Observe, for instance, the nose is formed for spectacles, therefore we wear spectacles. The legs are visibly designed for stockings, accordingly we wear stockings."
Mark Twain. 1897. Horrors of the German Language - (35,329 bytes; 3 pages): Mark Twain brings his sense of humor to the German language with this speech that he delivered to the Vienna Press Club in 1897. Native English speakers are often initially confused be German word order, since in German sentences the verbs all at the end piled up are. Here is Twain's speech, both in good German and in a literal translation into English.
Swift, Jonathan. 1729. A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from being a burden to their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public - (56,167 bytes; 7 pages): Modern black humor has nothing on this little essay, written more than 250 years ago.

Getting Published - (html): Scientific publishing is always a challenge, especially in a premier venue. Here's the story of what it took to publish a major finding in human genomics.
John, chapter 11, verse 35 - (4,396 bytes; 1 page): Can biology provide dispensation? Here's a theological, ethological, evolutionary, and cladistic consideration of the notion, recently put forward by the Bishop of Edinburgh, the Most Reverand Richard Hollaway, that "adultery is caused by our genetics" and thus should not be condemned as sinful.
ZOO LABEL - (61,347 bytes; 1 page): Support continuing education and place this sign next to a crib, playpen, or baby carriage to alert passers-by to the content.

Hu's on First - (79,733 bytes; 2 pages): Transcript of an exchange between Condi Rice and George Bush about the emergence of Hu Jintao as the new leader of China...
How to Attend a Meeting - (8,034 bytes; 2 pages): Advice from Dave Barry on that most essential component of organizational behavior...
Teaching Mathematics - (43,350 bytes; 1 page): A brief overview that shows how the teaching of mathematics has evolved over the years...
Moving to Seattle - (8,034 bytes; 2 pages): A brief chronology, recording the typical joys experienced by newcomers to the northwest...
ANA - (4,064 bytes; 1 page): White House Press Release: President Clinton signs the Americans with No Abilities Act into law. This startling new legislation, providing benefits and protection for more than 135 million talentless Americans, is being hailed as a major victory for the millions upon millions of U.S. citizens who lack any real skills or uses. Read about it here...

24 Jan 01
rjr8222@gmail.com