Monday, June 22, 2009

Surprise appearances

I still find it a bit surprising when I see people I know or work with mentioned in non-academic sorts of things. There usually are a couple in the Saturday paper here and there, and I'm beginning to get used to them. But then there are the very unusual sightings.

For example, I recently discovered the excellent Professor Oliver Rackham (pictured here alongside his recent portrait) cited approvingly in Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur's The best of Is it just me or is everything shit? He appears in the entry s.v. 'Carbon offsets'. Oliver is praised for comparing 'the practical effect of carbon offset tree-planting to drinking more water to keep down rising sea levels'. (I think the thought comes originally from his wonderful book on Woodlands but it seems to have become a favourite observation, judging by a quick Google search.)

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