Linguists who have gone a bit...eccentric?

From: Rolleston (rolleston_at_tiscali.co.uk)
Date: 08/29/04 

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 17:26:25 +0100

I would like to hear about eccentric linguists or eccentric academics
in general. You know the type I mean. They begin their careers in
the conventional way, and then, when safely ensconced in the most
respectable of ivory towers, a rogue neuron starts pulsing and they
jump out of the window.

To give you an idea of the sort of person I have in mind, let me
mention Rupert Sheldrake. By all accounts a talented chap. After
studying natural sciences at Cambridge (England), he spent a year
dabbling with philosophy at Harvard. He took a Ph.D. in biochemistry
at Cambridge, was a Fellow of Clare College, and a Research Fellow
of the Royal Society. There is nothing here that one might reasonably
call eccentric.

But his papers hint at unconventional happenings. In the early years
they have staid academic titles. 1968 saw the appearance of his work
on "Some Constituents of Xylem Sap and their Possible Relationship
to Xylem Differentiation". In 1970 was published a paper on "Cellulase
in Hevea Latex". There are many other early papers like these.

With the passing of time more jaunty titles leap into view.

The 80s are the glory years of morphic resonance. In the following
decade his "Psychic Pets: A Survey in North-West England" is thrown
out to the world. And, returning to matters more properly the concern
of sci.lang, 2003 sees the publication of his extraordinary offering
"Testing a Language - Using Parrot for Telepathy". You may find
other lively titles listed here:

http://www.sheldrake.org/papers/

Now, are there any linguists like that?

R.