On dissertation writing
The young priest of science begins telling me, not without agitation, that he has passed his doctor's examination this year and that now he has only to write his dissertation. He would like to work with me, under my guidance, and I would greatly oblige him by suggesting a subject for his dissertation.
'I should be delighted to be of use to you, colleague', I say, 'but let's first of all see if we agree about what exactly a dissertation is supposed to be. This word is usually understaood to mean a written composition which is the result of independent work. Isn't that so? A work written on a subject suggested by someone else and under the supervision of someone else has a different name.'
The aspirant is silent. I lose my temper and jump out of my chair.
'Tell me why do you all come to me?' I shout angrily. 'Do I keep a shop? I'm not a dealer in subjects for dissertations. For the hundredth time I ask you to leave me in peace.'
The subject matter in the extract above from one of Chekhov's best short stories (A Boring Story) is, unfortunately, the subject of my next few weeks — I'm struggling along trying to write a dissertation on the topic of choice, education and disabled children and young people. Whilst the aspirant in the extract is silent, I'm afraid the same will be said of arbitrary constant over the next few weeks (aside from the odd post and the regularly update del.icio.us links to the right). Whilst I don't ask you to "leave me in peace", I do apologise for the continued silence.
Filed in Arbitrary Constant, Literature, Personal