An economist's dad
Levitt is a veritable gas guru, a leading expert on the underappreciated field of flatus -- intestinal gas that escapes via the southern route. He admits his unusual expertise has put his three kids (one of whom is economist and "Freakonomics" co-author Steven Levitt) through expensive universities.
The article, which covers a lot of scientific knowledge on flatulence, is fun to read. I found the experiment on the potency of male vs female gases fascinating, if somewhat disturbing.
And playing amateur psychologist here, maybe it's precisely this background that gave young Steven the idea of pursuing unusual - 'freaky' - subjects in his own discipline, and most readers of this blog know all about that.
HT Odd Numbers.
