Les Murray may be on the second row of betting of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature but we can say that Australia has won one major Nobel prize this year: the Ig Nobel Prize for Literature.
For those not aware of this award, it's aim is to reward research that should never be repeated. In previous years Australians have won for research into belly-button lint, and for a paper about the physics of dragging sheep across shearing-shed floors. In other words, it's a light-hearted look at the world of research and is always every popular. This year Glenda Browne of Blaxland, Blue Mountains, Australia, won the Ig Nobel Prize for Literature for her study of the word "the" -- and of the many ways it causes problems for anyone who tries to put things into alphabetical order.
REFERENCE: "The Definite Article: Acknowledging 'The' in Index Entries," Glenda Browne, The Indexer, vol. 22, no. 3 April 2001, pp. 119-22. The article is available for viewing
on the web. [PDF file.]
