Scientists' Humor Defies Stereotypical Serious Image

Irven DeVore, Moore professor of biological anthropology, once camped out in the deserts of Africa with two of his graduate students.

On the first night of the expedition, he left the students alone at camp, found a hiding place nearby and began roaring like a lion.

"[The students] immediately built a fire and clutched each other," DeVore says.

Unable to restrain his laughter, DeVore was forced to reveal himself. But not after giving his students a real fright and leading them to question the wisdom of embarking on a wilderness adventure with a unpredictable scientist.

Scaring students in the African desert is just one of the many pranks scientists secretly play on one another, contrary to their popular reputation as a serious group of professionals.

Indeed, most people still picture scientists as the archetypal "nerds," complete with pocket protectors, greasy hair and thick black glasses. This image has done much to cloak scientists' true penchant for jest and practical jokes.

Jonathan Marks, associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, says that there are two public images of scientists--the "avuncular Einstein" and the "malevolent Frankenstein." Both, according to Marks, can be defined as classic nerds.

Higgins Professor of Physics Sheldon L. Glashow says the movie industry has done much to skew the public's perception of scientists.

"Scientists are usually peculiar people--certainly in 'Jurassic Park' and 'Dr. Strangelove.' But that's the movies industry," Glashow says.

In real life, however, the scientific communityis replete with humor, although admittedly alittle short of outlets for it. Perhaps as aresult, the humor that does come through borderson the bizarre.

One such outlet is the Cambridge-based Journalof Irreproducible Results (JIR), a bimonthlymagazine solely dedicated to exposing the humor inscience.

Since 1955, the journal has published spoofs,humorous articles and false research papers alongwith actual science news. In the process, it hasbeen slowly overturning the nerd stereotype.

"I have no problem saying scientists arenerds," says Marc Abrahams '78, editor of theJournal. "The question is: what else are they?"

In an attempt to answer this basic question,the JIR solicits stories form scientistsworldwide. Recent publications have included apolitically correct table of the elements, and astudy on the effects of peanut butter on therotation of the earth.

According to Stanley J. Eigen, associate editorof JIR and associate professor of mathematics atNorthwestern University, "Our audience isscientists, engineers, UFO abductees, religiousfanatics--you know, the usual."

"We're never out to do anybody harm," saysAbrahams about JIR's mockery of seeminglylegitimate research.

"But at the same time," he says, "whenever somelarge balloon seems to be floating down the streetwith word 'pomposity' on it, we have a certainobligation to do something about that balloon."

To this end, the JIR each year hosts a ceremonyto present the "Ig Nobel" awards, a spoof of theprestigious Swedish awards. The Ig Noblescelebrate the humor in legitimate, butquestionable, research.

For example, the 1993 Ig Nobel in Psychologywent to John E. Mack, professor of Psychiatry atHarvard Medical School and David Jacobs of TempleUniversity. Their prize-winning conclusion wasthat people who believe they were kidnapped byaliens form outer space probably were.

The raucous event, held annually at MIT, hastraditionally been punctuated by paper airplanes,blue jello and flying water balloons.

So what causes this wild behavior among ourdistinguished scientists?

Hunched over bunsen burners, wrapped in starchywhite lab coats and stooped in rigorous equations,scientists say they need an occasional laugh--atthemselves and at each other--to preserve theirsanity.

"Science is about the most frustrating thingyou can do. You're always trying to understandthings that nobody understands," Abrahams says.

"If you don't find that situation funny," hesays, "the only other alternative is to concludethat you're insane for chasing al these thingsthat you'll never find."

DeVore goes as far as saying that humor isdirectly correlated to the genius of thescientist.

"In my experience, the better and brighter thescientist is," says DeVore, "the more likely he orshe is to have a sense of humor."

Apparently, this rule applies even to the greatscientists of the past.

Sanjib Mishra, associate professor of Physics,says one of his favorite one-liners came formscientist Ernest Rutherford, famous for his'gold-foil' experiment.

"When he tried it and it didn't work, do youknow what he said?" Mishra asks. "He said, 'Thegold has foiled my experiment!"

"When you thinks about all the weeks you putinto an experiment like that," Mishra says,"Tuning, Calibrating...and then nothing works--tobe able to say that is hilarious."

Others posit that the humor stems formscientists' access to a unique treasury ofequipment and materials specially suited toexecuting practical jokes.

"Engineers and scientists have more equipmentto play with," says Northwestern professor StanleyEigen. "A bunch of lawyers have their books. Ifthey want to come up with a great prank, theydon't have the stuff."

Eigen tells the story of a typical pre-medprank: "Years ago, premed students used to givesomething to some guy to change the color of hisurine," he says. "It's coming out blue and the guyis in a panic. Why do that? Because they have thestuff."

Dennis J. Frailey, adjunct professor ofcomputer science and engineering at SouthernMethodist University, says he used computers toengage in all sorts of mischief during hisundergraduate years.

"I put a program on a computer that caused theoperator's console to type out (once a day at arandom time) 'Excuse me, I must go to the restroom,'" he says.

"It would appear to go dead for five minutesand then it would return with the line 'Ahh, whata relief,'" says, Frailey, who is also seniorsoftware technologist at Texas Instruments.

Scientists at Harvard generally don't plan suchtechnically advanced pranks, and instead engage ina more sophisticated form of humor.

In 1987, Professor of Astronomy Robert P.Kirshner '70 was attending a conference in Italywhen he received an urgent telegram telling him toreturn home immediately.

"It said there was a supernova happening in[galaxy] M-51," says Kirshner, "and I was runningto the travel agent trying to get a flight home."

What Kirshner didn't realize, however, was thathe had fallen prey to his colleagues' practicaljoke.

There was no supernova at all, just a bunch ofchuckling scientists.

This year, on April 1, Kirshner received astrangely familiar telegram. This one, like thelast, informed him to a supernova occurring in theM-51 galaxy. But Kirshner didn't buy it.

"I was slow to believe it, especially since itwas April Fools' Day," he recalls, laughing.

But this supernova turned out to be real, muchto this chagrin.

Besides joking with their colleagues,scientists often use humor in the classroom tospark students interest, especially in largerclasses.

"Scientists not only do science but also teachscience," says Yale's Jonathan Marks. "Effectivepedagogy involves communication--you've got tomake students pay attention."

Thus many lecturers--including DeVore, whoteaches Science B-29, "Human BehavioralBiology"--purposely use humor to teach moreeffectively.

"If you want people to attend to what you'resaying, you have to appeal to their emotions, notjust their intellect," says DeVore. "Humor hasclassically been one of the safer emotions.

And sometimes humor just occurs spontaneously,to the delight of students.

"Students love when [demonstrations] fail,"says Kirshner, who teaches Science A-35, "Matterin the Universe," "They love it when the professoris humiliated."

Kirshner, known for his extravagantdemonstrations, received a 4.5 rating in thisyears' CUE Guide.

DeVore says students feel less intimidated bybig name professors if they are humorous.

"I try not to take myself seriously," saysDeVore, "because I find that in teaching, it helpsto let people know that deep down inside, I'm justthe barefoot boy from East Texas."

While fake telegrams and blue urine makefor some funny moments, scientists say they arecareful not to cross the line between good andoffensive humor.

"Exacting humor at the cost of someone is justnot funny--it's sad," says Mishra.

Marks says he is "not a practical joker"because certain jokes are more harmful than funny.

Marks says a friend of his one sent apechromosomes, instead of human chromosomes, to aclinical lab for diagnosis. Chromosomes arestructures of tightly coiled DNA, in which defectscan indicate disease.

"[The lab] thought it was a human with acertain form of cancer," Marks says. "I thinkthat's a little bit sick because you're wastingsomeone's time."

Teachers who employ humor in the classroom arelikewise cautious about whom they joke with.

"The trick is drawing the line," says Kirshner,"I don't joke with students who are not doing wellor with people I don't know."

So, given the preponderance of humoramong scientists, is the 'nerd' stereotypebreaking down? The verdict is divided.

Some, like Jones Professor of Classical GreekLiterature Gregory Nagy, say scientists are notnerds in the least.

Nagy, who has worked with Baird Professor ofScience Edward O. Wilson, says his colleaguetypifies the funny, well-rounded scientist.

"He has one of the best ears for good Englishstyle and he has a good sense of humor, too," Nagysays.

Students agree.

"[Wilson] is one of the most entertaininglecturers in the field," says Joel M. Rainey '94."He is self-deprecating in a funny way."

But others say they can't find the humor inscientists, calling them too intense to be funny.

"I don't know anything about science or theconnection between humor and science, says,Stanley J. Hoffman, Dillon professor of thecivilization of France, "but all I can tell you isthat I've met lots of scientists in my life whodidn't have any sense of humor at all."

Dennis Frailey, however, says such attitudesshow a lack of understanding of scientists.

"People who don't understand others generallyascribe to them characteristics that are deemednegative," he says.

"In some sense, people are jealous. But inanother sense, maybe people just can't relate,"Frailey says.

But whether their jokes fall on deaf ears ornot, one thing's for sure. The Einsteins andFrankensteins of scientific institutions willcontinue to preserve their unique traditions ofhumor.

"It seems to me... that the most harmfulattitude is to take everything seriously," saysJIR editor Abrahams. "If you're going to dosomething hard, why not enjoy it?"Crimson File Photo

In real life, however, the scientific communityis replete with humor, although admittedly alittle short of outlets for it. Perhaps as aresult, the humor that does come through borderson the bizarre.

One such outlet is the Cambridge-based Journalof Irreproducible Results (JIR), a bimonthlymagazine solely dedicated to exposing the humor inscience.

Since 1955, the journal has published spoofs,humorous articles and false research papers alongwith actual science news. In the process, it hasbeen slowly overturning the nerd stereotype.

"I have no problem saying scientists arenerds," says Marc Abrahams '78, editor of theJournal. "The question is: what else are they?"

In an attempt to answer this basic question,the JIR solicits stories form scientistsworldwide. Recent publications have included apolitically correct table of the elements, and astudy on the effects of peanut butter on therotation of the earth.

According to Stanley J. Eigen, associate editorof JIR and associate professor of mathematics atNorthwestern University, "Our audience isscientists, engineers, UFO abductees, religiousfanatics--you know, the usual."

"We're never out to do anybody harm," saysAbrahams about JIR's mockery of seeminglylegitimate research.

"But at the same time," he says, "whenever somelarge balloon seems to be floating down the streetwith word 'pomposity' on it, we have a certainobligation to do something about that balloon."

To this end, the JIR each year hosts a ceremonyto present the "Ig Nobel" awards, a spoof of theprestigious Swedish awards. The Ig Noblescelebrate the humor in legitimate, butquestionable, research.

For example, the 1993 Ig Nobel in Psychologywent to John E. Mack, professor of Psychiatry atHarvard Medical School and David Jacobs of TempleUniversity. Their prize-winning conclusion wasthat people who believe they were kidnapped byaliens form outer space probably were.

The raucous event, held annually at MIT, hastraditionally been punctuated by paper airplanes,blue jello and flying water balloons.

So what causes this wild behavior among ourdistinguished scientists?

Hunched over bunsen burners, wrapped in starchywhite lab coats and stooped in rigorous equations,scientists say they need an occasional laugh--atthemselves and at each other--to preserve theirsanity.

"Science is about the most frustrating thingyou can do. You're always trying to understandthings that nobody understands," Abrahams says.

"If you don't find that situation funny," hesays, "the only other alternative is to concludethat you're insane for chasing al these thingsthat you'll never find."

DeVore goes as far as saying that humor isdirectly correlated to the genius of thescientist.

"In my experience, the better and brighter thescientist is," says DeVore, "the more likely he orshe is to have a sense of humor."

Apparently, this rule applies even to the greatscientists of the past.

Sanjib Mishra, associate professor of Physics,says one of his favorite one-liners came formscientist Ernest Rutherford, famous for his'gold-foil' experiment.

"When he tried it and it didn't work, do youknow what he said?" Mishra asks. "He said, 'Thegold has foiled my experiment!"

"When you thinks about all the weeks you putinto an experiment like that," Mishra says,"Tuning, Calibrating...and then nothing works--tobe able to say that is hilarious."

Others posit that the humor stems formscientists' access to a unique treasury ofequipment and materials specially suited toexecuting practical jokes.

"Engineers and scientists have more equipmentto play with," says Northwestern professor StanleyEigen. "A bunch of lawyers have their books. Ifthey want to come up with a great prank, theydon't have the stuff."

Eigen tells the story of a typical pre-medprank: "Years ago, premed students used to givesomething to some guy to change the color of hisurine," he says. "It's coming out blue and the guyis in a panic. Why do that? Because they have thestuff."

Dennis J. Frailey, adjunct professor ofcomputer science and engineering at SouthernMethodist University, says he used computers toengage in all sorts of mischief during hisundergraduate years.

"I put a program on a computer that caused theoperator's console to type out (once a day at arandom time) 'Excuse me, I must go to the restroom,'" he says.

"It would appear to go dead for five minutesand then it would return with the line 'Ahh, whata relief,'" says, Frailey, who is also seniorsoftware technologist at Texas Instruments.

Scientists at Harvard generally don't plan suchtechnically advanced pranks, and instead engage ina more sophisticated form of humor.

In 1987, Professor of Astronomy Robert P.Kirshner '70 was attending a conference in Italywhen he received an urgent telegram telling him toreturn home immediately.

"It said there was a supernova happening in[galaxy] M-51," says Kirshner, "and I was runningto the travel agent trying to get a flight home."

What Kirshner didn't realize, however, was thathe had fallen prey to his colleagues' practicaljoke.

There was no supernova at all, just a bunch ofchuckling scientists.

This year, on April 1, Kirshner received astrangely familiar telegram. This one, like thelast, informed him to a supernova occurring in theM-51 galaxy. But Kirshner didn't buy it.

"I was slow to believe it, especially since itwas April Fools' Day," he recalls, laughing.

But this supernova turned out to be real, muchto this chagrin.

Besides joking with their colleagues,scientists often use humor in the classroom tospark students interest, especially in largerclasses.

"Scientists not only do science but also teachscience," says Yale's Jonathan Marks. "Effectivepedagogy involves communication--you've got tomake students pay attention."

Thus many lecturers--including DeVore, whoteaches Science B-29, "Human BehavioralBiology"--purposely use humor to teach moreeffectively.

"If you want people to attend to what you'resaying, you have to appeal to their emotions, notjust their intellect," says DeVore. "Humor hasclassically been one of the safer emotions.

And sometimes humor just occurs spontaneously,to the delight of students.

"Students love when [demonstrations] fail,"says Kirshner, who teaches Science A-35, "Matterin the Universe," "They love it when the professoris humiliated."

Kirshner, known for his extravagantdemonstrations, received a 4.5 rating in thisyears' CUE Guide.

DeVore says students feel less intimidated bybig name professors if they are humorous.

"I try not to take myself seriously," saysDeVore, "because I find that in teaching, it helpsto let people know that deep down inside, I'm justthe barefoot boy from East Texas."

While fake telegrams and blue urine makefor some funny moments, scientists say they arecareful not to cross the line between good andoffensive humor.

"Exacting humor at the cost of someone is justnot funny--it's sad," says Mishra.

Marks says he is "not a practical joker"because certain jokes are more harmful than funny.

Marks says a friend of his one sent apechromosomes, instead of human chromosomes, to aclinical lab for diagnosis. Chromosomes arestructures of tightly coiled DNA, in which defectscan indicate disease.

"[The lab] thought it was a human with acertain form of cancer," Marks says. "I thinkthat's a little bit sick because you're wastingsomeone's time."

Teachers who employ humor in the classroom arelikewise cautious about whom they joke with.

"The trick is drawing the line," says Kirshner,"I don't joke with students who are not doing wellor with people I don't know."

So, given the preponderance of humoramong scientists, is the 'nerd' stereotypebreaking down? The verdict is divided.

Some, like Jones Professor of Classical GreekLiterature Gregory Nagy, say scientists are notnerds in the least.

Nagy, who has worked with Baird Professor ofScience Edward O. Wilson, says his colleaguetypifies the funny, well-rounded scientist.

"He has one of the best ears for good Englishstyle and he has a good sense of humor, too," Nagysays.

Students agree.

"[Wilson] is one of the most entertaininglecturers in the field," says Joel M. Rainey '94."He is self-deprecating in a funny way."

But others say they can't find the humor inscientists, calling them too intense to be funny.

"I don't know anything about science or theconnection between humor and science, says,Stanley J. Hoffman, Dillon professor of thecivilization of France, "but all I can tell you isthat I've met lots of scientists in my life whodidn't have any sense of humor at all."

Dennis Frailey, however, says such attitudesshow a lack of understanding of scientists.

"People who don't understand others generallyascribe to them characteristics that are deemednegative," he says.

"In some sense, people are jealous. But inanother sense, maybe people just can't relate,"Frailey says.

But whether their jokes fall on deaf ears ornot, one thing's for sure. The Einsteins andFrankensteins of scientific institutions willcontinue to preserve their unique traditions ofhumor.

"It seems to me... that the most harmfulattitude is to take everything seriously," saysJIR editor Abrahams. "If you're going to dosomething hard, why not enjoy it?"Crimson File Photo