Physicists Are Still Joking

TL;DR

This paper compiles a comprehensive history of scientific humor from the 1960s to the modern digital age, illustrating its evolution across geopolitical and technological changes while highlighting the enduring nature of scientist humor.

Contribution

It provides a detailed anthology of scientific humor spanning sixty years, including translations, original works, and contemporary examples across multiple scientific disciplines.

Findings

Humor persists through technological and political changes.

Science humor reflects cultural and scientific evolution.

Digital age humor maintains skepticism and self-reference.

Abstract

This volume, \textbf{Physicists Are Still Joking}, serves as a definitive almanac of scientific humor spanning sixty years. It traces the evolution of professional folklore across geopolitical divides and technological eras. \textbf{Part I} restores the classic 1966 anthology \textbf{Physicists Joke}, which originally served as a window for Soviet scientists into the best traditions of Western scientific humor; it consists primarily of articles translated from English, here meticulously restored to their original wording. \textbf{Part II} presents the 1992 sequel, \textbf{Physicists Keep Joking}, which captures the shift toward an original, introspective Russian scientific folklore born during the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. \textbf{Part III: Still Joking} explores the modern digital age, compiling contemporary science humor from physics, astronomy, biology, computer science and AI research. While the tools of science have evolved from slide rules to neural networks, the tradition of skeptical, self-referential wit remains a constant. Spanning from the "Golden Age" of vacuum tubes to the era of AI and Large Language Models, this collection documents the enduring ability of scientists to laugh at the universe and themselves.