TIL that a cat once co-authored a physics paper. In 1975, a physicist had just finished writing a paper and was ready to publish but realized that he had used ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ throughout, despite being the sole author. Not wanting to edit the paper, he listed his cat, Chester, as a co-author.
Ok but the best part is, physicists loved the joke. When people called the author’s university and he wasn’t available, they’d ask to speak with the co-author instead. The author issued a limited number of copies of the article signed by both authors. (Chester’s was obviously a pawprint.) And to this day, physics papers will often have F.D.C Willard (Felix Domesticus, Chester Williard [Willard was the author’s father’s name]) mentioned in the footnotes thanking his “useful contributions to the discussion”.
You know what I love? I don’t even follow this person’s blog or IG, but I know who this cat is. And when my friend reblogged it and I hit play, I found myself affectionately saying “hello, Pangur”, because even from just a glance at the video I knew who the cat was.
I just…love this age of technology we’re in, where other people have cute cats and I can watch them and feel affection for them and recognize them instantly like they’re cats I know in real life? Pangur and Thurston and Maru and Haku, and it’s just like…it’s such a nice world where I can have such familiarity and affection for other people’s cats from across the globe.
Pass Through Fire 