What Does a Retired Professor do in His Spare Time? He Studies Bird Behaviour
This is the second in a series on idle professors. For the first click here.
Whether zoologist or not, a keen observer can do much useful work in his spare time, for example by watching birds or conducting experiments on bird behaviour. Select any bird, for example a crow, a raven, a magpie or a currawong in your garden. Here I illustrate a study of a controlled experiment involving a bird and a little boy. The question to be answered is: who has the keener mind and stronger character and finally prevails? Look at the sequence and conclude for yourself.
The retired professor conducting the experiment, and six critical steps in the experiment:
But every story has a moral. In this story it is: Don’t give up so easily! If you can’t get the result you want in the first experiment, come back and try again. And don’t forget: there are many thousands of bird species on earth. Plenty of work for retired professors!
May 5th, 2008 at 9:16 am
On the weekend just passed I happened to meet the most anti-intellectual, anti-science individual I have ever heard, as a plenary lecturer at an event held at UNE. I am wandering the web making links to my account of my experience so that it will be more easily found by people seeking information about this man. Getting late… must get in to work!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Chris: I read both your links. My philosophy: if you talk nonsense make it brief. (Comments on your post: same problem as earlier. I must have forgotten my password)