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Letter: Rude science

Published 26 February 2000

From Mark J. Bailey

Catherine Crick’s letter about finding New Scientist in the
“teenage” section of the magazine racks in W H Smith
(22 January, p 51) reminded
me of an incident one day in the early 1990s.

I was living and working in London, and having gone into a newsagents in
Sloane Square, I asked where I might find Nature magazine. The woman
behind the counter pointed to a row of what seemed to be mostly “adult”
magazines—Penthouse, Playboy and the like. After a few
minutes of unsuccessful searching, I asked the sales assistant about New
Scientist.

“Beryl,” the woman called to her colleague, “do we keep Nude
Scientist?”

I was appalled, especially when my mind wandered to the possibility of a
centrefold.

m.bailey@medicine.uq.edu.au

Issue no. 2227 published 26 February 2000

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