“A Little Nonsense now and then is Relished by the Wisest Men”

Extract

This familiar saying may be a little too risque for sober scientists but surely all of us can accept a substitution of the word humor for the word nonsense. For humor is based on a sense of proportion and fitness of relationships, which is the very essence of the scientific obligation to interpret what we observe. In fact, many of our colleagues insert humorous slides in their very serious talks to help wake up the audience and give them an association for remembering a key point. Do we also remember to use this power of humor when teaching, or otherwise communicating with, a lay audience?

Like it or not we are all required to be teachers to our own circle of support people and should furthermore take advantage of any opportunity to educate the world at large about our work. I should like to give a few examples from my own experience in teaching electron optical practice.