On Being The Right Size

I always thought that ants were cheating somehow. It couldn't be through sheer industriousness that they were able to lift many times their weight. You don't see ants working out. They're just born that way, and, according to an article, we would be just as strong were we to be shrunk to a tiny size:

http://fathom.lib.uchicago.edu/2/21701757/

In stumbling across that article, which examines giant movie monsters, I was reminded of what was, in all probability, the best article written about throwing animals of various sizes from buildings I ever read:

http://irl.cs.ucla.edu/papers/right-size.html

There's something of the curmudgeon about both these pieces, as grumpiness and insistence on verisimilitude are often twin characteristics. But there's another theme which rises above both, and that is a very pure passion for the pulling apart and the putting together, which becomes fascinating for its own sake. You can see it in Fast, Loose and Out Of Control, and in very finely crafted objects. You become drawn in to the swirling subject. The expert passes on not just his expertise, but how it feels to dwell within, to be seated in the control room, to pull on this lever and that and lo! a great truth is revealed. It is very rare, and very valuable, to be granted such fluent access to a mind.