Tintin in CMAJ

From these readers' comments about our Tintin article1 I have learned that excluding fantasy from science amounts to foolish neglect of an opportunity to develop interest in science and research. The positive impact of this project on my children was equal to the article's impact on busy doctors, some of whom spoke to me for the first time after reading the study. Their smiles provided relief from the winter blues. Suddenly, stressed surgeons began sharing with me their childhood memories about Tintin and assured me that they will read Hergé's work again to confirm the findings we reported. This alone was worth jeopardizing my reputation as a “serious researcher.”

As Douglas Adams wrote, “Science has achieved some wonderful things of course, but I'd far rather be happy than right any day.”2 Maybe we weren't right, but this publication certainly made my sons happy. As it turned out, Dec. 7, 2004, the publication date of our article, was by coincidence the 6th birthday of Antoine, first author on the article. I want to thank the journal and the lay media for making me look like the best dad in his eyes. He is convinced that I arranged coast-to-coast media coverage as a special birthday celebration.