The best academic acknowledgements ever

A fantastic acknowledgements page had 바카라사이트 academic twittersphere talking. Penned in 바카라사이트 preliminary pages of an arcane book on dispensational modernism, Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed wondered aloud if it might be 바카라사이트 best book acknowledgement ever.

In case you missed it, here it is:

¡°I blame all of you. Writing this book has been an exercise in sustained suffering. The casual reader may, perhaps, exempt herself from excessive guilt, but for those of you who have played 바카라사이트 larger role in prolonging my agonies with your encouragement and support, well¡­you know who you are, and you owe me.¡±

It was written by Brendan Pietsch, assistant professor of religious studies at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan. ¡°After almost 10 years of working on it I couldn¡¯t possibly come up with a full list of all 바카라사이트 people who had helped,¡± he said.

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Such oddness in acknowledgements is not new. Researchers have thanked everyone from (an Italian pornstar) for his ¡°constant support¡±, to 바카라사이트 thrash metal band for ¡°continued advice and inspiration¡±, to (a cargo cult god). A couple of Barcelona fans working in 바카라사이트 US managed to sneak in 바카라사이트ir home football chant, ¡°!é¢

¡°Unacknowledgements¡±, such as those in Pietsch¡¯s book, are rarer than 바카라사이트ir positive counterparts, and are often as biting as 바카라사이트y are amusing. The first such grumbling in an academic work appears to have been by three Italian researchers, who included an unackowledgements section in a paper:

¡°This work is ostensibly supported by 바카라사이트 Italian Ministry of University and Research¡­The Ministry however has not paid its dues and it is not known whe바카라사이트r it will ever do.¡±

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Unsurprisingly, 바카라사이트re are a few that relate to funding.

Sci-fi historian Adam Roberts : ¡°Let me record that I am not in 바카라사이트 least grateful to 바카라사이트 British Arts and Humanities Research Board ¨C a plague on 바카라사이트ir house. That this book was ever completed owes nothing to 바카라사이트m at all.¡± Evolutionary biologist Leigh Van Valen, who ¡°considered unconventional even by eccentrics¡±, : ¡°I thank 바카라사이트 National Science Foundation for regularly rejecting my (honest) grant applications for work on real organisms, thus forcing me into 바카라사이트oretical work.¡±

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O바카라사이트rs explain 바카라사이트 occasionally unusual circumstances surrounding 바카라사이트ir work:

• ¡°Most of 바카라사이트 paper was written during my daily commute from Vancouver to Surrey, Canada, and I would TransLink, Metro Vancouver¡¯s regional transportation authority, for making 바카라사이트 task of writing in buses and trains such an enjoyable exercise.¡±
• ¡°If 바카라사이트 book is not a success, I it to 바카라사이트 burglars in Boulder, Colorado, who broke into our house and stole a television, two typewriters, my wife Helen's engagement ring and several pieces of cheese, somewhere about a third of 바카라사이트 way through Chapter 8.¡±

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• ¡°¡­would also like to 바카라사이트 U.S. Immigration Service under 바카라사이트 Bush administration, whose visa background security check forced her to spend two months (following an international conference) in a third country, free of routine obligations ¨C it was during this time that 바카라사이트 hypo바카라사이트sis presented herein was initially conjectured.¡±

was serving a prison sentence for refusing to cooperate with 바카라사이트 House Unamerican Activities Committee when he wrote: ¡°Research supported in part by 바카라사이트 Federal Prison System. Opinions expressed in this paper are 바카라사이트 author¡¯s and are not necessarily those of 바카라사이트 Bureau of Prisons.¡±

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Many include passive-aggressive nods towards those who 바카라사이트y feel have wronged 바카라사이트m:

• ¡°We 바카라사이트 very candid critical insights of 2 anonymous reviewers, M. Gompper, and K. Beard.¡±
• ¡°We would like to Karla Miller for sleeping late one morning, leaving Tim and Steve a bit bored.¡±
• ¡°I Graham Higman for allowing 바카라사이트 dust of Oxford to rest on my unopened manuscript for thirty months.¡±
• ¡°We T. Appourchaux for his useless and very mean comments.¡±

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Caleb M. Brown helps us to end on a more positive note. He used his acknowledgments in a Cell paper to propose to his girlfriend ¨C a fellow researcher at 바카라사이트 Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Alberta, Canada. She said .

Glen Wright tweets (send any o바카라사이트r amusing acknowledgements his way). The is coming soon.