Do-It-Yourself "Ologies"

Do-It-Yourself "Ologies"

Required:

• Your time only

Quick! What are the three most important laws of pizzology (the study of pizzas)? Don't worry if you don't know—in fact, it's your job to make them up. That's the whole idea behind this activity: each person invents and describes his or her very own field of science.

First the player invents a new science (dessertology, spaghettiology, toyology, sockology). Next, the new inventor makes up a list of two or three laws or principles. For instance, a law in the science of spaghettiology might be that no two strands of spaghetti can occupy the same sauce at the same time. What tools or measuring instruments do researchers use in the field (maybe something like "the electronic twirling fork")? The inventor must know a little about the history of the science ("Spaghettiology was founded by Dr. J. Pasta Eatmorestarch in 1885"), most important findings to date ("Spaghetti is fun to play with as well as to eat"), the educational requirements for pursuing the discipline ("successful completion of high school, college, pasta school, and proven ability to eat spaghetti without making any slurping sounds"), and highest degrees awarded in the field ("the DSS—Doctor of Spaghetti Science!").

Alternatively, the inventors can describe their science and see if others can guess the name.