In 1983 I did my finals in Science at Trinity, specializing in Zoology. My final year project was on Air Breathing Rhythms of Oxygen Consumption in the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas (L.). I enjoyed this project and got really positive feedback about it. The then Head of the Department of Zoology, the late J.N.R. Grainger said to me that I "had a talent" for research and I was inspired to continue my research studies by enrolling for a PhD.
I have often thought over the years that I should have tried to publish my research findings. Basically, air breathing rhythms in the shore crab had not been shown before (they had in water) - therefore my work was new to science. However, I never bothered to write my project up in a suitable format for a paper. It didn't help that in 1983 there were no computers - my thesis was typed up on a typewriter. In the last year I finally wrote the paper, with the aid of OCR and a scanner. I first submitted it to the Journal of the Marine Biological Association and it was rejected - but there were some positive comments (among the many negative). The main feedback was that it was too long. I tried two more journals with a shortened version, but was rejected on both occasions. It's time to give up trying to publish this in a scientific Journal.
The great thing about blogs is that you can publish anything you like yourself. So I hereby publish my own paper - it can be accessed from my Google Pages by clicking here. Of course I doubt if anyone will ever find it, let alone read it - but I have a little grin on my face as I publish this 25 year old piece of research.
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