Many people notice the smell of old books. Some people study it, and even write monographs: “Material Degradomics: On the Smell of Old Books,” Matija Strlic, Jacob Thomas, Tanja Trafela, Linda Csfalvayov, Irena Kralj Cigi, Jana Kolar, and May Cassar, Analytical Chemistry, vol. 81, no. 20, October 15, 2009, pp 8617–22, DOI 10.1021/ac9016049. [AIR 16:2] […]
About: Stephen Drew
Posts by Stephen Drew:
Teabagging and Coining
“The Tea Bag Experiment: More Evidence on Incentives in Mail Surveys,” Mike Brennan, Janet Hoek, and Philip Gendall, International Journal of Market Research, vol. 40, no. 4, 1998, pp. 347–52. The authors report [AIR 16:2]: This paper reports the results of a study which compared the effectiveness of a tea bag and a $1 coin […]
Teabagging: Removing the sog
This technical drawing may appear to show a way to dry out soggy underwear. It may turn out to be a method to dry out soggy underwear. But the specified use is otherwise. The patent document explains [AIR 16:2]: “Teabag Squeezer and Holder”, U.S. patent #3550528, granted to Thomas Montague O’Neill, December 29, 1970: Heretofore, […]
The “Holy Plane” of Rectal Surgery
“The ‘Holy Plane’ of Rectal Surgery,” R.J. Heald, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, vol. 81, September 1988, pp. 503–8. The author, at Basingstoke District Hospital, Basingstoke, U.K., explains [AIR 16:1]: this is the story of a simple artisan’s pleasure in the actual style of performing an operation—in essence the way to use a […]