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The article on David Mitchell reminded me of the parallel Arthur Koestler drew between scientific creativity and the way laughter emerges when incongruous situations are brought together, a process he called "bisociation": the distinction between the routine skills of thinking on a single plane and the creative act, which always operates on more than one level. To (dis)prove the point, bringing a comedian on to the board of one of the research councils is a most creative suggestion (although clearly no laughing matter). Can we have Mitchell on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, please?

Jose L. Fiadeiro, Department of computer science, University of Leicester.