UNINTENTIONAL HUMOR - RESEARCH ARTICLES

There are instances where a serious research paper, which has been published in a reputable journal by a genuine researcher, causes the reader to burst into laughter. To the author the subject matter is important – to the reader though it is hilarious and occasionally nonsensical. Journals such as the Annals of Improbable Research and books such as Science Friction…Grins and Groans Among the Titles of Scientific Studies collect the titles of humorous research to highlight one side of scientific humor.

Bier, E. "Drink Milk and Become More Stupid [Article in Danish]." Ugeskrift for Laeger 160, no. 39 (1998): 5678-9.  

Chernyshev, V. "Adaptation of Monkeys to the Conditions of Moscow Suburbs." Int. Cong. Eth. Sci. 7 (1968): 216.   

Gonzalez-Angula, A. "How to Give Mouth to Mouth Resuscitation without Becoming Emotionally Involved." J. Amer. Med. Assoc. 200 (1967): 59.   

Hulbert, A. J., and R. W. Rose. "Does Devil Sweat." Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 43, no. 1A (1972): 219-&.  

Lenington, S. "Effect of Holy Water on the Growth of Radish Plants." Psychological Reports 45, no. 2 (1979): 381-82.  

Morse, L. J., J. F. Murphy, T. F. Obrien, J. A. Bryan, W. E. C. Wacker, and J. P. Hurley. "Holy-Cross-College-Football-Team Hepatitis Outbreak." Journal of the American Medical Association 219, no. 6 (1972): 706-&.  

Newman, R. W. "Why Man Is Such a Sweaty and Thirsty Naked Animal - a Speculative Review." Human Biology 42, no. 1 (1970): 12-&.  

Nundy, S. "Peemeter - Apparatus for Measuring Urinary Force." British Journal of Surgery 58, no. 1 (1971): 45-&.  

Riley, H. D. "Health Manpower - Physician Time Expended in Obtaining Haircuts." Journal of the American Medical Association 214, no. 10 (1970): 1890-&.  

Robinson, R. W., S. Shannon, and Delaguar.Md. "Regulation of Sex Expression in Cucumber." Bioscience 19, no. 2 (1969): 141-&.

UNINTENTIONAL HUMOR – BOOK TITLES

Burnstein, Ray A.; Kaplan, Daniel M. Twenty Beautiful Years of Bottom Physics : Proceedings of the B20 Symposium, Chicago, Illinois, June-July, 1997. Woodbury, N.Y.: American Institute of Physics, 1997.

Cohen, Stephen, ; Burns, Richard C. Pathways of the Pulp. St. Louis: Mosby, 1998. Hudler, George W. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1998.

Jones, Hugh R. A., ; Steele, Iain A.,. Ultracool Dwarfs : New Spectral Types L and T Berlin ; New York: Springer, 2001.

Povinelli, Daniel J. Folk Physics for Apes : The Chimpanzee's Theory of How the World Works. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

HIDDEN HUMOR

Some of the best scientific humor is “hidden humor”. Many forms are seen. One form is subtle humor infused by the author into serious research. Another form is the spoof/prank publication; an example of such is the Diaphote Hoax. Finally, there is serious research with a completely unexpected and humorous twist such as the Hetherington and Willard article. The article is amusing because the second author is a cat (note his signature).

HETHERINGTON AND WILLARD ARTICLE

According to J.H. Hetherington:  

“I had prepared the paper, now called Hetherington and Willard, and was rather proud of the work, considering it suitable for rapid publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. Before I submitted it I asked a colleague to read it over and he said “It’s a fine paper but they will send it right back”. He explained that this is because of the Editor’s rule that the word “we” should not be used in a paper with only a single author. Changing the paper to the impersonal seemed to difficult now that it was all written and typed; therefore, after an evening’s thought I simply asked the secretary to change the title page to include the name of the family cat, a Siamese called Chester, sired one summer by Willard (one of the few unfixed male Siamese cats in Aspen, Colorado). I added the initials F D in front of the name to stand for Felix Domesticus and thus created F D C Willard” (Weber, Robert. Droll Science, p.110).

WHAT ARE THE IG NOBEL PRIZES?  

EXCERPTS : from www.improb.com/ig/what-are.html  

“WHAT: The Ig Nobel Prizes honor people whose achievements "cannot or should not be reproduced." Every winner has done something that first makes people laugh, then makes them think.

WHY: The Igs are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative -- and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology. Here are three discussions of what the Ig is and is not , and perhaps what it could mean.  

THE CEREMONY: The Prizes are awarded at a gala ceremony in Harvard's Sanders Theatre. 1200 splendidly eccentric spectators watch the winners step forward to accept their Prizes. The Prizes are physically handed to the winners by genuinely bemused genuine Nobel Laureates. You are invited to attend the ceremony in person, or via broadcast.  

WHENCE: The Igs are inflicted on you by the science humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR)”.

KING KONG

On February 10, 1880 an article entitled The Diaphote. A Remarkable Invention by Dr. H.E. Licks was published in the Bethleham Daily Times. The Diaphote Hoax, as the article came to be known, was the work of Mansfield Merriman, a Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Lehigh University, and a successful prankster.  

The article reported on a meeting of the Monocacy Scientific Club where Dr. H.E. Licks details his invention, the Diaphote. What Licks describes is, in essence, a television set.  

There are a few hints that this is a hoax. Most obvious is Dr. H.E. Licks himself. Phonetically, his name is HELIX. The article also mentions that “Presiding over the meeting was Prof. L.M. Niscate”. By adding the letter E to “L.M. Niscate”, one gets LEMNISCATE, a figure-eight shaped curve whose equation in polar coordinates is p[^2]=a[^2] cos 20 or p[^2]=a[^2] sin 20.  

Merriman’s pseudonym H.E. Licks is also the author of Recreations in Mathematics, a book designed to “afford recreation for an idle hour and to excite the interest of young students in further mathematical inquires” (Licks, 1917). The Diaphote Hoax is included in the book.

GOLDFISH

PLAYBOY

From Science, vol, 159, p.55, 1968