...further...
I think that any discussion of the Cosmic Joke should include Charles Fort...
"One measures a circle beginning anywhere. - Charles Fort
Charles Fort was a painstakingly erudite dissector of scientific texts and a ravenous predator of scientific dogma, who scrutinized how scientists formed their theories according to their own personal views, rather than the weight of evidence available. Fort gleefully trawled through the data that was suppressed, discarded or explained away in a less than satisfactory manner. He referred to this this data as 'damned'."
More may be found here...
http://www.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id254/pg1/
Best,
not2too