scholarship

The pressure placed on academics to publish new books and papers has led to a dramatic increase in the number of works produced (LEFT), but has it also had a negative impact on their ability to address wider narratives? For example, perhaps Roman studies would benefit from more discussions of broader topics such as the nature of Roman urbanism (ABOVE).

Academic mass production

Every paper has to say something new. In the mass production of vehicle components, difference is defect. In the mass production of academic papers, difference is a requirement.

Above Nicolas Claude Fabri de Peiresc, in a 1637 engraving by Claude Mellan.

Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc (1580-1637)

It is hard to disagree with the astronomers. They clearly felt that naming a single lunar crater after Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc in 1935 was insufficient and, in 1993, honoured him again, this time with an asteroid. But astronomy is…