Under the Microscope: The common abbreviation Xmas, for Christmas, is derived from the Greek alphabet. X is the letter chi, the first letter of Christ's name in the Greek alphabet.
Cromwell believed Christmas should be a very solemn day, so he banned carols. The only celebration allowed was a sermon and a prayer service.
The Puritans in America tried to make Thanksgiving Day the most important annual festival instead of Christmas.
Firing from the German trenches suddenly stopped at midnight on Christmas Eve 1914. A German brass band began playing Christmas carols. Early on Christmas Day, German soldiers emerged from their trenches, calling "merry Christmas" as they approached the Allied lines. At first the Allied soldiers were suspicious, but they soon climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the Germans. The truce lasted a few days, the men exchanging cigarettes and plum pudding, singing carols and other songs, and playing a game of soccer.
Quotations
"We used to think that our fate was in our stars. Now we know that, in large measure, our fate is in our genes."
... James D. Watson (1928- )
"All medicine discoveries may be summarised in the short formula: water, if moderately drunk, isn't harmful."
... Mark Twain (1835-1910)
"The homeopathic physician is the humourist of the medical profession."
... Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914)
"In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual."
... Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
"Thus, the task is not so much to see what no one has yet seen but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees."
... Erwin Schrodinger (1887-1961)
Humour samples
Two atoms bump into each other. One says: "I think I lost an electron!" The other asks: "Are you sure?" To which the first replies: "I'm positive."
René Descartes walks into a bar. The bartender says: "Sir, can I get you a martini?" Descartes says, "I don't think . . . " and he disappears.
Best wishes to all for a peaceful and happy Christmas.
William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and director of microscopy at University College Cork
