Armies of Geologists

…I asked Mr. Wang how many students attend the University of Geoscience in Wuhan.

“About 20,000,” he replied.

“You have 20,000 students majoring in geology?” I asked, stunned at the number.


“Oh, no,” he replied with a smile. “Many of our students study in other fields of science, such as physics, chemistry, biology. And we even have a few students who study art and theater.”

No doubt, I thought, the “few” artists and theater majors in a Chinese university are probably the ones who are actually good at it. “So how many people do you have studying geology?” I asked.

“Hmmm…. About 10,000,” he replied.

Whiskey and Gunpowder