 |
Lord Russell
This illustration appeared in the Winter 2001 issue of Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across The Disciplines. ¶ In his autobiography, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) writes the following anecdote: In the same year that I went to Germany, the Government sent me to Norway... The place they sent me was to Trondheim. The weather was stormy and cold. We had to go by sea-plane from Oslo to Trondheim. When our plane touched down on the water it became obvious that something was amiss, but none of us in the plane knew what it was. We sat in the plane while it slowly sank... We later learned that all nineteen passengers in the non-smoking compartment had been killed. When the plane had hit the water a hole had been made in the plane and water rushed in. I had told a friend at Oslo who was finding me a place that he must find me a place where I could smoke, remarking jocularly, 'If I cannot smoke, I shall die'. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be true. All those in the smoking compartment got out by emergency exit beside which I was sitting.
 |
