Science Spoofs, Physics Pranks and Astronomical Antics

Abstract

Some scientists take themselves and their work very seriously. However, there are plenty of cases of humour being combined with science. Here I review some examples from the broad fields of physics and astronomy, particularly focusing on practical jokes and paper parodies. This is a mostly serious overview of a non-serious subject, but I'd like to claim that there is in fact some connection between humour and creativity in the physical sciences.