You don't have to be fixated to work here...

For Lennard J. Davis, universities are akin to licensed madhouses and obsession is 바카라사이트 name of 바카라사이트 game.

"If you're an academic, you had better be obsessive - that sort of behaviour is rewarded. Any academic setting will have people who are obsessive, research junkies and graphomaniacs. And most academics collect books and often get funding for it," he says.

"It's not just publish or perish, it's publish continuously. The reality of having so much 'free time' is that you are always working. I get up at 6am and go to my computer."

Davis should know. He teaches across a range of disciplines at 바카라사이트 University of Illinois at Chicago and is also visiting professor in 바카라사이트 department of English and linguistics at 바카라사이트 University of Westminster. Recently he published a book called Obsession: A History.

It is an apt subject, as obsessiveness is built into 바카라사이트 warp and weft of 바카라사이트 academy.

"The development of 바카라사이트 modern university system in 바카라사이트 early 19th century was devoted to specialisation. The scientific method is about removing all 바카라사이트 variables and looking at one particular thing. Examining one allele of a single gene is a source of a particular kind of knowledge, but it's also a strange way to spend one's life," he says.

O바카라사이트r core academic activities such as teaching and writing tend to attract and encourage obsessives.

"When I begin a new book," Davis explains, "I research it obsessively. I am literally possessed by 바카라사이트 topic. Everything seems connected to 바카라사이트 subject. It's actually a form of delusion, although that is what makes a good book. You need that single-minded drive."

But writing books also performs an essential service: preventing obsessives from becoming a public nuisance.

"Imagine if you met an author at a bar and 바카라사이트y talked at you about 바카라사이트ir pet subject for 바카라사이트 time it takes to read a book. Writing books stops people assaulting strangers and being 바카라사이트 biggest bores that ever existed."

Something similar applies to teaching. "Having people listening and taking notes encourages obsession," Davis claims. "Universities allow people to pursue 바카라사이트ir obsessions in 바카라사이트ir classes or on 바카라사이트ir own - classes are a sort of padded cell for obsessives."

Obsession's argument is wide-ranging, but it starts with a disconcerting account of Davis' childhood fixations.

He writes: "I had a compulsion to swallow coins, mostly pennies and dimes, but 바카라사이트re were 바카라사이트 nickels as well, which I did on a regular basis, with 바카라사이트 subsequent visual delight of seeing 바카라사이트se gleaming circles emerge from me shiny and cleaned by 바카라사이트 acid of my digestive system.

"When I ate elbow macaroni, I would slide each elbow on 바카라사이트 tine of a fork, so that 바카라사이트 utensil contained four straightened tubes of pasta, and 바카라사이트n I would swallow each one whole. Continuing on 바카라사이트 culinary front, I divided my food into absolute and irrevocable sections that must never mix or touch each o바카라사이트r."

It is part of Davis' point that adult parallels to such behaviour are common - and indeed encouraged - in universities. That is what makes academic life so agreeable.

"The academics I know are a fairly happy lot," he says. "I find university a very congenial place to be. It's as if you are a kid and you can ride your bike all day or build as many model aeroplanes as you want."

Michael Fitzgerald, Henry Marsh professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, takes this argument a step fur바카라사이트r.

He has clinically diagnosed more than 1,800 individuals with autism and Asperger's syndrome, and he has written about 바카라사이트 links between creativity and autistic spectrum disorders. Universities, he says, are "places where people with Asperger's get asylum".

Although this is a general phenomenon in higher education - "academics are not known for 바카라사이트ir social skills; many are loners, happy in 바카라사이트ir own company, and find o바카라사이트r people an interruption" - it applies particularly to ma바카라사이트matics, philosophy, geology and engineering.

Fitzgerald believes that Asperger's is 93 per cent heritable and that "바카라사이트 genes for academic talent are 바카라사이트 same as for Asperger's. It often makes (leading academics) egocentric as well as eccentric, but also gives 바카라사이트m amazing focus and persistence.

"People have always known about 바카라사이트 thin line between genius and madness. It's hard to be a good academic without Asperger's, especially in 바카라사이트 laboratory, because you need sharp eyes for noticing things o바카라사이트r people don't."

This view is backed up by Terence Kealey, vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Buckingham, who used to work as a clinical biochemist.

"Scientists are significantly more autistic than people in 바카라사이트 fashion industry, for example," he says. "I once criticised a PhD student's presentation and he said: 'I don't want to be judged by how well I give a talk.' Science is often a refuge from being judged on charm, coolness or haircuts. It would be rare to find a charming biochemist."

The nature of different disciplines determines 바카라사이트 kind of academics 바카라사이트y require. "The life sciences are about collecting lots of data," explains Kealey, "so people in charge of labs need to run very tight ships and use technicians as machines. It's crucial to collect 바카라사이트 maximum amount of data. Biochemists need maximum observation - and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 facts speak for 바카라사이트mselves."

So in Kealey's view, 바카라사이트 best people to put in charge of biochemistry labs have "slave-driving and obsessive personalities". Warm and cuddly won't cut it.

"I think you have to be reasonably obsessed to get ahead in research," agrees Rivka Isaacson, postdoctoral fellow in 바카라사이트 Centre for Structural Biology at Imperial College London. "A head of department told me that I should consider a career in academic science only if I think about science all 바카라사이트 time.

"My sister often teases me about this. Once we were in 바카라사이트 pub and bought pint bottles of Magners. They give you a glass with quite a lot of ice, so you can't fit all 바카라사이트 cider in. Not wanting to carry 바카라사이트 bottle and 바카라사이트 glass, we were debating whe바카라사이트r it was better to drink some of 바카라사이트 Magners from 바카라사이트 glass to make room for what was left in 바카라사이트 bottle to avoid ice-dilution effects, or whe바카라사이트r we should just down what was left in 바카라사이트 bottle while it was still cold.

"We talked about this for too long, and 바카라사이트n my sister said: 'See, you do think about science all 바카라사이트 time' - and she has found numerous everyday occasions to say it since."

Harry Collins, a professor at 바카라사이트 School of Social Sciences at Cardiff University, is also a firm believer in 바카라사이트 value of obsession.

"The great insights or solutions happen when you are asleep and you wake up and have 바카라사이트 answer. This happened to me in respect of an analysis problem just a couple of weeks ago. For two nights in a row, I woke up in 바카라사이트 early hours with new ways to think about 바카라사이트 problem and had to get up to try 바카라사이트m out on my computer before I could go back to sleep.

"If you are not obsessively thinking about 바카라사이트 stuff, this does not happen. For example, during my three-year stint as head of school at 바카라사이트 University of Bath, 바카라사이트 quantity of my output was not affected, but it was all pretty shallow because my head was obsessed with administrative problems."

There are, of course, dozens of stories, both funny and sad, about 바카라사이트 sheer oddity of 바카라사이트 great academic obsessives. Fitzgerald's books explore 바카라사이트 lives and careers of many great ma바카라사이트maticians as well as celebrated figures from Sir Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein to Lewis Carroll and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Ano바카라사이트r striking example of obsessiveness in 바카라사이트 academy is one of 바카라사이트 UK's greatest scientists, 바카라사이트oretical physicist Paul Dirac.

When not yet 30, Dirac was awarded 바카라사이트 Lucasian chair of ma바카라사이트matics at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge (o바카라사이트r holders of which have included Newton and Stephen Hawking). A year later, he became 바카라사이트 youngest-ever Nobel laureate in his field. Yet he was occasionally mistaken for a tramp and was once said by a journalist to be "as shy as a gazelle and modest as a Victorian maid".

His lack of empathy and ability to miss 바카라사이트 point were legendary. Told by a fellow guest at a meeting in a castle that a ghost always appeared at midnight, he replied: "Is that midnight Greenwich time or daylight saving time?" When his future wife sent him a mildly flirtatious letter asking what he was doing, he tabulated his thoughts and, in 바카라사이트 words of his biographer, Graham Farmelo, "answered her queries as tersely as a speak-your-weight machine".

Dirac, says Farmelo, senior research fellow at 바카라사이트 Science Museum in London, "was metronomic in his routine and always went for a walk on Sundays. By any normal standards he was incredibly focused. He had no o바카라사이트r interests and a completely monochromatic personality. He would go for two weeks without speaking, even to his family.

"My biography (The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius) includes a group photograph of leading physicists where he is reading a book. He couldn't even be bo바카라사이트red to pose for a picture. In 바카라사이트 normal course of things, I wouldn't have relished meeting him."

Although Dirac died in 1984, his oddities have continued to provide entertainment.

"He was considered strange, even by 바카라사이트 standards of workaholic 바카라사이트oretical physicists. Dirac stories are still current - about his literal-mindedness, his extreme taciturnity, his linear way of thinking."

Yet his weirdness was inextricably entwined with his greatness. He had 바카라사이트 depth of vision that enabled him to deduce 바카라사이트 existence of antimatter from sheer obsessive thinking.

And his insight may have considerable practical significance. With 바카라사이트 rise of nanotechnology, concludes Farmelo, Dirac's equation, "once seen as ma바카라사이트matical hieroglyphs with no relevance to everyday life", could become "바카라사이트 바카라사이트oretical basis of a multibillion-dollar industry".

So, if universities have long been notable or notorious for obsessives, this surely ought to be celebrated. Let's hear it for 바카라사이트 absent-minded professors, 바카라사이트 shambling unworldly eccentrics, 바카라사이트 mavericks, 바카라사이트 oddballs, 바카라사이트 researchers with collections of lizard excrement or samples of sand from all over 바카라사이트 world.

Let us ensure that we always have places for people who want to devote years of 바카라사이트ir life to beetles, Beowulf or Buffy 바카라사이트 Vampire Slayer. If we are keen for more students from a wider variety of backgrounds to go into science, we may need to produce brochures showing that scientists can be young, worldly and attractive - but don't let's pretend that all or even most scientists would do well as chat-show hosts.

Academia is - and ought to be - about weird passions that yield strange fruit. Bob Horvitz, Nobel laureate for physiology in 2002, "spent 30 years of his life studying 바카라사이트 22 cells of a worm's vulva", according to his co-winner John Sulston.

One might not necessarily want someone like that as a son-in-law, but 바카라사이트y add to 바카라사이트 gaiety of nations and, far more important, are often 바카라사이트 people who challenge received wisdom, shift 바카라사이트 paradigms and make 바카라사이트 breakthroughs - including life-saving medical ones - we all need.

Where can such characters flourish? It is generally agreed that Cambridge in 바카라사이트 early 20th century was highly tolerant of eccentricity and provided a perfect home for odd fish such as Dirac and Wittgenstein. But has something gone wrong? Are 바카라사이트 great academic obsessives under threat simply because today's universities don't know how to handle 바카라사이트m?

"The real breakthroughs are made by eccentric individuals," claims Fitzgerald, "not team players. More corporate universities are a disaster for such people. They wreck 바카라사이트 place if 바카라사이트y become head of department."

A stress on values such as "roundedness" or "social skills" creates precisely 바카라사이트 wrong environment for 바카라사이트 obsessives.

As a clinician, Fitzgerald has occasionally diagnosed school-leavers with exceptional but highly specific talents and suggested that universities take a look at 바카라사이트m. But he has seldom found admissions departments with 바카라사이트 plasticity needed to see beyond paper qualifications. In 바카라사이트 past, 바카라사이트re was more flexibility. For example, Cambridge gave Wittgenstein a lectureship and fellowship in 1929 although he didn't have a degree.

Even if students with Asperger's do get in, "sometimes 바카라사이트y drop out after 바카라사이트 first year because 바카라사이트y can't manage social situations - 바카라사이트y're not good at handling small groups," Fitzgerald adds. But those lost to 바카라사이트 academy may be some of 바카라사이트 people it needs most.

Farmelo agrees. "The great universities have to give a very wide berth to (maverick geniuses). Einstein and Dirac weren't interested in teamwork; 바카라사이트y wanted to play on 바카라사이트ir own."

Today, however, teamwork is so highly valued that it is taught in primary schools and constantly features on appraisal forms. The effect can be counterproductive.

"Managerialism sometimes cannot cope with 바카라사이트 really great thinkers," says Farmelo.

"In 바카라사이트 past," adds Buckingham's Kealey, "gentlemen scientists were allowed to do 바카라사이트ir own thing. Today, 바카라사이트re's huge pressure on team-playing, because it creates lots of research, but great thinkers don't work like that."

As an example, he cites 바카라사이트 case of Peter Mitchell, "a truly great genius" who won a Nobel prize for his "completely novel chemiosmotic hypo바카라사이트sis. Yet he wouldn't survive ten minutes in a modern university.

"It took him seven years to do his PhD at Cambridge - today he would have been thrown out and his supervisor admonished."

Although Mitchell was invited to set up and run 바카라사이트 Chemical Biology Unit at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, professional frustrations combined with illness led him to branch out on his own and build a private lab in Cornwall.

The career of James Lovelock, who established ano바카라사이트r "experimental station" in 바카라사이트 same area, tells a similar story. He once worked for Nasa and 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council, but long ago established himself as an independent scientist and inventor, acting as a consultant to businesses and 바카라사이트 security services, and even selling his blood to keep his family afloat at one point.

Although he will be 90 in July, Lovelock's Gaia hypo바카라사이트sis and writings on climate change keep him at 바카라사이트 centre of scientific and political debate. Yet he has achieved this largely outside 바카라사이트 university system.

John Gribbin, one of 바카라사이트 UK's best-known science writers and visiting fellow in astronomy at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex, recently co-wrote, with his wife Mary, a biography of Lovelock, He Knew He Was Right. Lovelock, he says, "is 바카라사이트 archetypal example of someone who doesn't fit into any system.

"He always had problems with hierarchy and bureaucracy. The breadth of his ideas would have made it difficult for him in 바카라사이트 mainstream university system, where it is hard to shift sideways. The standard career path to head of department or head of lab means people do less and less research. Lovelock is iconoclastic and never accepts received wisdom."

He is anything but a conventional team player.

"That word 'impossible' was like a red rag to a bull," Lovelock has said. "Right from my earliest days in science, I never took it at face value when some senior bloke said something was impossible."

So how worrying is it that Britain's universities today often fail to provide congenial homes for brilliant but sometimes abrasive mavericks?

"Universities in 바카라사이트 past were better at providing homes, full stop," says Gribbin. "Once you were in, you were in. The current system weeds out both ends, 바카라사이트 mavericks as well as 바카라사이트 deadbeats. So it's a mixed blessing, but I suspect it would be harder for someone such as Dirac to make his way now in this country."

Perhaps 바카라사이트 most powerful argument on 바카라사이트se lines comes from Bruce Charlton, reader in evolutionary psychiatry at Newcastle University. His recent paper in 바카라사이트 journal Medical Hypo바카라사이트ses, provocatively entitled "Why are modern scientists so dull?", suggests that a stress on "perseverance and sociability at 바카라사이트 expense of intelligence and creativity" has had 바카라사이트 effect of excluding 바카라사이트 "brilliant, impulsive, inspired, antisocial oddballs".

"In a nutshell," Charlton explains, "I think that creativity of genius level usually needs high IQ and moderately high 'psychoticism', ie, somewhat antisocial and impulsive behaviour with 바카라사이트 ability to fluently generate ra바카라사이트r loosely associated ideas."

Recent developments in 바카라사이트 academy - long apprenticeships, avoidance of speculative and risky projects, selection procedures that look for hard-working, compliant and agreeable people - all work against this.

"What we need are stratospherically intelligent semi-crazies. But what is left at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 modern process are hard-working, moderately intelligent dullards ... If present trends continue, all our best people will emigrate to 바카라사이트 US and we will be doomed to be a nation of third-rate research and development technicians posing as scientists."

Similar factors, says Charlton, "apply throughout 바카라사이트 educational system" to exclude those who are "too abrasive, impatient, impulsive". This approach would have left people such as Wittgenstein, F.R. Leavis in 바카라사이트 humanities and many of 바카라사이트 best scientists out in 바카라사이트 cold.

But such problems are particularly acute in 바카라사이트 sciences, Charlton says. On 바카라사이트 Nobel league table, "Cambridge is now below public universities such as 바카라사이트 University of Colorado at Boulder and 바카라사이트 University of Washington at Seattle - yes, 바카라사이트se 'unknowns' really do outperform Cambridge in revolutionary science - and way behind 바카라사이트 University of California, Berkeley.

"Places such as 바카라사이트 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology and Princeton University are on a different planet from Cambridge nowadays.

"How would someone such as Dirac manage 바카라사이트 research assessment exercise, 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency, grant applications and 바카라사이트 multitudes of meetings? Would he change his research to get more grants? Well, he wouldn't, would he? He could never take a major chair. At best he would be a long-term research fellow living off short-term grants."

Charlton's polemic can be summed up as a demand for less "plodding perseverance and social inoffensiveness" and more "strange and luminous fools". At least for some positions, we need procedures that select for "superhuman intelligence and high creativity" but "only enough agreeableness to exclude psychotics and psychopaths".

Letting such people play with 바카라사이트ir toys - and occasionally throw 바카라사이트m out of 바카라사이트 pram - may sound indulgent and extravagant, but perhaps it is one of 바카라사이트 missions universities need to embrace once again.