I’ve been called worse

Having just filed my latest contribution to Laboratory News, I kicked back for half an hour to read the previous issue – which had been lurking on my desk for a couple of weeks. My monthly column is Lab Babble, a name which came up in a brainstorming session and which stuck because, mainly, of its silliness.

It’s a favourite of my regular assignments, partly because editor Phil Prime offers me a free reign over the topic of the column – which can be anything from the unwelcome rise of dogma in some sectors of science to the boring colours that microscopes are painted. I also like it because of the Lichtenstein-esque masthead commissioned for the column, which I think looks just fab.

While perusing the latest issue, I experienced that odd sensation when one’s own name leaps out almost before the page has been turned. There, in the opening paragraph of the Science Lite column, I found myself reading about myself. I am, apparently, a “columnist and general science raconteur”. Well, that’s nice.