In 1975, a whimsical yet illustrative incident occurred in the world of scientific publishing that continues to amuse and perplex both the scientific community and the public. Jack H. Hetherington, a physicist at Michigan State University, found himself facing a peculiar conundrum while preparing to submit a paper on low-temperature physics. His manuscript was written using the royal "we," a common practice in academic papers that often implies multiple contributors. However, Hetherington was the sole author, and upon realizing this could lead the journal editors to reject his paper, he decided against the laborious task of revising the document to replace "we" with "I."
To ingeniously circumvent this issue, Hetherington chose to add a co-author: his cat, Chester. Not just any ordinary cat, Chester became F.D.C. Willard— the initials standing for "Felix Domesticus, Chester," while "Willard" was the surname of Chester’s father. The "F.D.C." added a layer of academic decorum, and Hetherington playfully included it to bolster the façade. He submitted the paper titled "Two-, Three-, and Four-Atom Exchange Effects in bcc 3He" to the journal Physical Review Letters, and it was published without any apparent suspicion from the reviewers or the editors regarding the peculiar nature of his co-author.
F.D.C. Willard did not remain in the shadows of academic anonymity for long. Hetherington’s colleagues soon discovered the feline’s scholarly contribution, and rather than causing scandal, the story became a beloved anecdote illustrating the often-humorous eccentricities of academia. It also served to critique the impersonality and sometimes rigid norms of scientific writing.
Chester’s scientific alter ego lived on beyond that single paper. F.D.C. Willard was credited in a few more articles and was even offered a position as a visiting professor in France. The story of Chester illustrates not only a clever solution to a style guideline problem but also reflects on the lighter side of the sometimes overly serious academic world.
This peculiar episode is a reminder of the creativity that scientists can bring to their work, not only in their research but also in the presentation of their findings. Hetherington’s decision to list his cat as a co-author is a unique response to the pressures and expectations of publishing in academic journals, showing that even in rigorous scientific discourse, there is room for a bit of humor and humanity.
