Annals of Improbable Research

JULY | AUGUST 2011 (volume 17, number 4)

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Special Issue
Professor Lipscomb

Remembering Professor Lipscomb,
His Real-Life Adventures,
His Secret Mission...

Contents

The features marked with a star (*) are based entirely on material taken straight from standard research (and other Official and Therefore Always Correct) literature. Many of the other articles are genuine, too, but we don’t know which ones.

Special Section: Professor Lipscomb

Professor Lipscomb Is Gone* — Marc Abrahams
Professor Lipscomb in Performance*
A Few Real-Life Lipscomb Adventures* — Jim Lipscomb
Professor Lipscomb’s Secret Mission — Alice Shirrell Kaswell

Improbable Research Reviews*

Improbable Research Review* — Dirk Manley
Improbable Medical Review* — Bertha Vanatian
Boys Will Be Boys* — Katherine Lee
May We Recommend: How Rays Rinse* — Stephen Drew
Icky Cutesy Research Review* — Alice Shirrell Kaswell
Soft Is Hard* — Alice Shirrell Kaswell and Bissell Mango
Ig® and Beyond: Random Efficiency* — Nan Swift

News & Notes

Back Issues
AIR Vents (letters from our readers)
AIR Books
Teachers’ Guide
For Nauseated Children* — Stephen Drew
Research In, On, or About 778* — Stephen Drew
KIM CARTOON: “Analytical Chemists in the Wild West” — Nick Kim Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony Announcement
Editorial Board
Ig® Nobel Limericks: Promotion, Ignition, Spaghetti* — Martin Eiger<
Puzzling Solutions — Emil Filterbag
XKCD: “Circuit Diagram” — Randall Munroe
IBC Unclassified Ads

On the Front Cover

Accompanied by Ig Nobel minordomo Peaco Todd, Professor Lipscomb scans the audience at the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, wondering which of the 1200 attendees will be the one to win a date with him. Photo: Kees Moeliker.

On the Back Cover

In life, as in fiction, Professor Lipscomb was an accomplished clarinetist.