Peculiar Periodicals
It turns out there are even more unlikely publications than The Journal of Unlikely Science. Every Thursday, our very own Dr Steer turns his attention to another weird science journal.
This week: DISEASE-A-MONTH
| Name – Sounds like some god-awful reality tv show where Johnny Knoxville and his hilarious buddies infect themselves with a different malady each month so that they can laugh about the effects of flesh-eating bacteria. A potential hit on the cable networks. |  |
) "click to enlarge") Front cover – I supppose it's smart, clean and fairly inoffensive, but that's pretty much all you can say about the cover. It won't be featuring on my bedroom wall any time soon, that's for sure. |
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| Off-the-wallness – The early 20th century medical scientist Howard Taylor Ricketts really did purposefully infect himself with the diseases he studied. He was off the wall. Disease-a-month, however, advocates no such methodology. It's safer, but hardly as endearing. |  |
| Usefulness – The October issue is all about pediatric bioterrorism threats - I can only assume this means how to subdue nippers armed with anthrax or how to deal with particularly full nappies. Either way I'm glad someone out there knows what to do in these situations. Whoever you are, I'm counting on you to keep the kids contained. |  |
| Impressiveness – As with all medical journals there is a vast array of long and complicated words on offer - you can pick up gems such as fibromyalgia and dopaminergic. It doesn't matter what they mean, just drop them lightly into conversation and enjoy the impressed look on your friends' faces, as they walk away. |  |
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| Overall – A pretty poor showing from a journal that's been running for over fifty years. Hang on, that means they've covered over 600 diseases, ailments and maladies. Maybe it is quite impressive after all. |  |
Impact factor: like an extremely powerful nappy-filler.Find more Peculiar Periodicals
The Null's other regular features:
Monday: Phunny Phobias
Tuesday: Strange Scientific Names
Wednesday: Doctor Doctor
Thursday: Peculiar Periodicals
Friday: End of the Week Timewasters
Erratically: The World in Brief
Image: Jan Roger Johannesen
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