Experiment 61 Revisited: The scientists who tried to sneak Bob Dylan lyrics into research papers
Regardless of what your job is, you and your coworkers are likely constantly trying to think of new ways that you can make it more fun. A lot of the time, this comes in the form of elongated tea breaks, going to the pub after work, and playing the music of people like Bob Dylan to help the day go by a little smoother. However, five scientists in Sweden took the last option a step further when they tried to incorporate Dylan’s words into their work.
Bob Dylan was always revered for being an excellent songwriter. His lyrics were unlike anybody else, as he could transcribe real-world events into poetry. He would lace these poems over enchanting melodies and, in the process, became one of the biggest folk artists of all time. With such a lengthy discography, regardless of the emotion you’re feeling or what you’re trying to describe, there is likely a Bob Dylan lyric that can accommodate it.
Scientists Jon Lundberg and Eddie Weitzberg discovered this in 1997 when they put together a research paper in a specialised field. The title of the paper was Nitric Oxide and Inflammation: The Answer Is Blowing In the Wind. The choice to use the Bob Dylan line was natural, given that both scientists were fans anyway.
“We both really like Bob Dylan,” explained Weitzberg, “So when we set about writing an article concerning the measurement of nitric oxide gas in both the respiratory tracts and the intestine … the title came up, and it fitted there perfectly.”
This wasn’t a recurring theme until years later. A librarian who was familiar with the duo’s paper pointed out that their colleagues, Jonas Frisén and Konstantinos Meletis, had also referenced Bob Dylan in a piece that they had recently published. It came out in 2003 and was called Blood on the Tracks: A Simple Twist of Fate?
After both teams joked about using Bob Dylan lines in their research papers, they decided to have a minor bet between them, which involved trying to get the most Bob Dylan quotes into titles before retirement. “The one who has written most articles with Dylan quotes,” Lundberg explained, “Wins a lunch at the [local] restaurant Jöns Jacob.”
When word about the team’s small bet spread throughout the campus, a fifth scientist, Kenneth Chien, joined in. The number of papers they were all publishing centred around Bob Dylan quotes accelerated massively, leading to the creation of some incredibly funny titles for what are otherwise very serious scientific documents.
Some of the standouts include a piece from 2009 called The Biological Role of Nitrate and Nitrite: The Times They Are a-Changin, and a piece from 2011 called Dietary Nitrate—A Slow Train Coming. If the work they were researching was deeply serious, then they refrained from using the titles at risk of getting in trouble, but research papers critiquing work, writing book introductions, and more extensive editorials were all fair game.
Despite the profound role that Bob Dylan has played in these scientist’s careers, there is no doubt that they all put the quality of their work before the Bob Dylan pun. As Weitzberg put it, “I would much rather become famous for my scientific work than for my Bob Dylan quotes.”
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.