Wikipedia Footnote
Regardless of the flak it gets from “reputable” encyclopedic sources, I enjoy Wikipedia immensely. I can (and have) spent hours hopping from topic to topic simply delighting in the way a thread of knowledge makes it way throughout the site. Sort of a six degrees of seperation for data.
When Pipistrella gave me a copy of Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Suceed I eagerly read it and decided to track down one of many books Diamond mentions in it. Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile by Verlyn Klinkenborg is a collection of the impressions and observations of a tortoise kept in the garden of 18th century naturalist, Gilbert White. Peculiar title and premise aside, it’s a surprising and very amusing point of view.
I’ve been enjoying it so much that I fired up Wikipedia to learn a little bit more about the Gilbert White that “Timothy” has so much to say about. Imagine my surprise to see that there was no mention of the source of Klinkenborg’s inspiration under White’s entry. So, I added my own. š
In an utterly trivial way I added a little something to the worthwhile project that Wikipedia is performing (random mischief and malice of a few bad apples aside). I don’t consider myself an expert on just about anything but it felt rather good to give back a tiny sliver of the vast enjoyment and amusement Wikipedia has given me.
Here’s hoping I’m not deleted and banned for my presumption. š
