Thanks for the memories
The winds of change have blown my way, sweeping me out of these hallowed science columns. After something like 800 articles since 2001, this is my last. I have always felt obliged to challenge various fear-mongering myths. So often, science points one way but a paranoid public thinks otherwise, whether about Chernobyl, Fukushima, genetic engineering, dioxin, fluorine, 1080, or the efficacy of prayer.
As a general principle, I have avoided writing stories about global warming and the new religion – conservation. The media is so full of those doomladen stories that I never wanted to add to them. And besides, thousands of other entertaining or gee-whiz science stories cry out for attention.
I have also tried to avoid scientific triumphalism. Although scientists are usually trustworthy and far-seeing, they have their share of scallywags, cheats and fraudsters.
Although their discoveries are usually benign, they can make mistakes, with disastrous, unexpected consequences.
I’ve had some curious responses to my columns. The strangest was a 12-page letter from God and his wife (who apparently once lived in the English Midlands) telling me that the world would end on January 23 next year.
There was no forwarding address but His letter was posted from Manners St Post Office, in Wellington.
My mailbox has been filled for years by conspiracy theorists who blame tofu eating for the falling sperm count in the Western World, and with endless reports on sunspots from an amateur astronomer in Auckland. If I touched on religion, I got a lot of heated responses from retired clergymen.
In parting, I must thank readers for their many supportive responses. I must also thank the many experts who have checked each draft before I submitted it to the newspaper – a string of professors, scientists, dentists, bee-keepers, engineers, computer geeks, and so forth. And thanks too to my subeditors, who have spotted embarrassing errors and dreamt up some eyecatching headlines.
Of course, I’ll miss the contact with all you readers out there, and the monthly pay cheques. From here on, it’s only the cheaper brands of Champagne.
My mailbox has been filled for years by conspiracy theorists who blame tofu-eating for the falling sperm count in the Western World.