In early March 2004 I had the opportunity of travelling to Trondheim. Although not exactly paradise, this Norwegian city is interesting because it has the most northerly cathedral of Europe. It was built in the 12th century in the Romanesque style, and has been carefully preserved through the ages. The city was still partly covered by snow, but this was rapidly melting in a heavy rain. To find shelter I strolled into the cathedral bookstore, where I discovered a most fascinating doctoral thesis.

We all know that one can write doctoral theses about any subject, but this student had really found an extraordinary topic. He had written his thesis about weathering effects on …