F. D. C. Willard
In 1975, a scientific study of the behavior of atoms at very low temperatures was published, under which, his cat was also signed by the author, professor of physics, Jack H. Hetherington.
Jack H. Hetherington
Jack H. Hetherington was a professor of physics and mathematics at the University of Michigan. In 1975, he completed and published his academic study, describing a study of the behavior of atoms at different temperatures. The study has become the reference material for many other studies.
The Mistake That The Scientist Did Not Like To Fix It, So He Chose The Second, Best Solution
Hetherington was the only author of academic work, but under him was also signed by someone named F. D. C. Willard. Why?
Before Hetherington sent his paper for review and publication to the editorial office of a reputable scientific publication Physical Review Letters, which exists and continues today, he asked the roommate for a quick overview of the text. He agreed with the written, but he noticed that the scientist Hetherington use in the text, word ''we'' instead ''I''. The problem was that editors of the Physical Review Letters were strict in terms of grammatical rules - in principle, the use of this pronoun was allowed only if one study was not written by one author.
Hetherginton would not have had a problem if he wrote a research today. It would open the Microsoft Word text editor, press Ctrl + H key combination, and replace all the words "we" with a single click with "I". Since it was 1975 and he wrote the entire text on the typewriter, this was not possible.
Not Wanted, To Lose Time And Energy
The scientist was convinced that his contribution was so good that he deserves an immediate publication in Physical Review Letters. He did not really want to write the article again, he did not even want to mention one of his associates at the University's Department of Physics. He could do this, but this would also lose the part of the prestige that scientists bring to independent research work.
Lastly, he accepted the only logical decision at the time and signed his own cat Chester, under the research.
😺Chester, A Siamese Cat Who Became A Respected Scientist😹
🐾 Why F. D. C. Willard? 🐾
The cat was named Chester, of course, he did not have his surname because he was a cat. Hetherington, therefore, renamed his cat in F. D. C. Willard. F. D. C. is the abbreviation for Felix Domesticus, Chester - the first two words are one of the Latin names for a domestic cat. Willard was named Hetherington's father.
Two, Three, and Four-Atom Exchange Effects and bcc He3 and the signature of Jack H. Hetherington and F. D. C. Willard. This is one of the later editions of academic work, not the original. Hetherington did not send his research to the editors of the Physics Review Letters with the footprint of the cat, but later appeared in the subsequent reprints of his work.
On submission of his academic work to the Physical Review Letter, Hetherington reported that F. D. C. Willard was the name of his colleague at the University. Hetherington's roommates quickly discovered the true identity of Willard scientist, because one of the Physical Review Letter readers, came to the University of Michigan, try to find scientist Willard, asking him for some help.
And For The End, A Funny "Cats" Moments 😻