Richard Buckley’s exploding trousers propelled James Watson to fame. Except for the initial burst of flames, there was nothing quick about the process – 74 years elapsed between Buckley’s wardrobe malfunction and Watson’s gaining an Ig Nobel prize for his careful analysis of the cause and significance of the incident.
Watson is head of Massey University’s school of history, philosophy and politics in Palmerston North, New Zealand. In 2004, he published a study in the journal Agricultural History, entitled: The Significance of Mr Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers: Reflections on an Aspect of Technological Change in New Zealand Dairy-Farming Between the World Wars. That significance, explains Watson, is manifold.
So begins this week’s Improbable Research column in The Guardian.