Dear Dr. Nucleus,

Leaving the laboratory the other evening I picked up a local weekly magazine. I thought that I might find a female of my species interested in forming a liaison with a scholastically-gifted, MENSA member like me. Imagine my shock and dismay when I found this under the "Women Seeking Men" column:

DGF interested in English pursuits, seeks BLM for submission, light piercing. French and oil OK. No dutch ovens.

What does this person (?) want? Am I likely to find someone for a meaningful relationship this way?

Not Sleeping Around in SF


Dear Not Sleeping,

It is only appropriate that you have come to me to footnote your foraging. Dr. Nucleus has gotten his feet wet in the ocean of humanity that is the Bay Area. I have had to change my socks and put on foot powder; still the itching persists!

As for the ad, you have struck paydirt!

DGF? "Degreed Girl Friday" what all good Scientists need; someone to make coffee, take notes, and get carried away by the monster.

English pursuits? The English were interested in radar, radioactivity, and in-breeding their royalty. Accord her the respect that English Scientists since Rutherford have commanded.

BLM is "Boy Lab Manager." You may not be the manager yet but someday... She wants submissions; perhaps you can co-author a paper. Her interest in "light piercing" leads me to believe that optics is her specialty.

Although the French have not evolved a Scientist since Lavoisier, she is still willing to consider working with them. "Oil" means is into oil-immersion lenses or petroleum catalytic cracking.

As far as "dutch ovens," I use a muffle furnace,

Dr. Nucleus