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From: res@ihuxn.UUCP (Rich Strebendt)
Newsgroups: net.nlang,net.jokes
Subject: Re: Spelling Reform
Message-ID: <852@ihuxn.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Oct-84 21:51:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: ihuxn.852
Posted: Thu Oct 11 21:51:45 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 06:19:04 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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| > [Don Steiny]
| >      In a letter to 'The Economist' in Readers Digest (ages ago),
| > M.J.Shields, of Jarrow, England, points out that George Bernard
| > Shaw, among others, urged spelling reform, suggesting that one
| > letter be altered or deleted each year, thus giving the populace
| > time to absorb the change...
| 
| There was a classic short story (I believe it was in an Astounding anthology)
| entitled "Meihem in Ce Klasrum" along the same lines, but longer and thus
| easier to follow.  I've long wanted to have a xerox of it....

"Meihem in Ce Klasrum" was reprinted in the book "A Stress Analysis of
a Strapless Evening Gown and other essays for a scientific age" edited
by Robert A. Baker (Prentice-Hall, 1959).  The original, written by
Dolton Edwards, was, according to the credits in aSAoaSEG, published 
in Astounding Science Fiction in 1946.

If you can still get your hands on it, aSAoaSEG is an interesting
sampler of scientific and engineering humor.  My personal favorites
from this small volume (192 pages) include

	"The Chaostron" - design of a completely random computer which
			was to learn to solve problems, rather than be
			programed.

	"The Postal System Input Buffer Device" - an instruction manual
			for the use of a mailbox.

	"Mathmanship" - A classic.  Instructions on how to write a 
			technical paper in such a way as to force the
			reader to "... concede his mental inferiority
			to the author."

		
					Rich Strebendt
					...!ihnp4!ihuxn!res