Who says academics aren't funny?

Check out the following exchange from last night's Colbert Report. Stephen's guest is Dr. Peter Agre, who is a Nobel Laureate chemist and is a leader in the Scientists and Engineers for America, a new PAC dedicated to promoting sound science in the public square.

Colbert: You've said that anyone who grew up on a farm knows that evolution exists. Are you saying that a monkey can milk a cow.

Angre: If I can milk a cow, I suspect a monkey as smart as I am could milk a cow.

Colbert: Are there monkeys as smart as you?

Angre: I'm sure there are quite a few.

Colbert: Do they give a Nobel Prize for throwing your own feces?

Angre: That's the economics prize.

Happy First Monday!

Even though I am not Jewish, today is still a holy day in my life. It is the first Monday in October, which means the Supreme Court has started its new term!

To mark this joyous occasion, I wanted to bring your attention to the Washington Post's annual Supreme Court Quiz! Unfortunately, you cannot access it online, so I am transcribing it for you. The answers will appear as a comment to this section. Feel free to play along at home. (For the record, I got five answers right. Sorry I set the bar so low.)

Supreme Bookcases: Opinions of the Court

Throughout the court's history, there have been justices who were not content to limit their written expressions to the pages of U.S. Reports. Consequently, the bookshelves are full of volumes authored by Supreme Court justices, past and present. This year's quiz focuses on justices as authors.

1. "Chico:" is a children's book by former justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The title refers to:
A. O'Connor's hometown in Northern California.
B. O'Connor's favorite Marx brother.
C. The horse O'Connor rode as a child.
D. O'Connor's high school boyfriend'

2. Who is the author of "Active Liberty"?

3. Who is the author of "A Republic, if You Can Keep It"?

4. Who is the author of "A Matter of Interpretation?"

5. Who is the author of both "Commentaries on the Constitution" and "The Power of Solitude," a 1,500-line poem written in heroic couplets?

6. Who is the author of "Other People's Money and How the Bankers Use it," a collection of essays published in 1914? (Hint: He was not yet a member of the court at the time of publication.)

7. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died last year, published four books during his time on the court. Name three of them:

8. What justice said he would never write his memoires because "to be interesting, you know, you have to say that 'this is a good person' 'that's a bad person' 'that's a medium person' 'he really let me down here' And I just don't want to do that."

9. How many books did Justice William O. Douglas publish?
A. 8
B. 4
C. None
D. 31

10. Name the justice whose previously unknown manuscript, an insider's account of President Franklin B. Roosevelt's administration, was discovered by law professor John Q. Barrett and published as a book titled "That Man" in 2003.

11. What current justice has signed a reported seven-figure deal with HarperCollins to write an autobiography?

12. Name the 19th-century justice who was such a successful author that by 1844 he was earning twice as much per year from book royalties as from his official salary.
A. John Marshall
B. Joseph Story
C. Roger Taney
D. Bushrod Washington