that I've found, in the Alps, rare in this country, but
common there. And this, again gives a thrill. It must be
the same for other interests, whether it's butterflies, or
flowering plants, or even badgers, if you like.
WRM: You have do doubt had many contacts with other workers
in this field. Have you any pet aversions to any particular
types of people?
AJP: Not in the Essex Field Club because they are amateurs,
and they are keen and interested. But, my aversion is the
superior, arrogant scientist, who knows it all, not only
from the point of view of science, but he knows everything,
all the answers from politics to religion. You get those,
and I don't like them. I don't like arrogance.
WRM: Finally, is there any question you would like me to
have asked?
AJP: A question people often ask me is, how do you start
Bryology? Some years ago I gave a little talk at a meeting
of the Field Club, and a chap came to me afterwards (I
hadn't seen him before) and said he was interested, but how
did he start? I thought to myself, here's another of those
who will have a try, then soon give it up. But I was wrong.
This chap was a different sort. I told him to follow me
round on one or two of the outdoor meetings, and he did
this, and I got him to join the Bryological Society, so that
he could meet a lot of people. And I told him he must get
hold of a microscope, and a couple of good books which I
recommended. He came out with the Bryological Society on an
outdoor meeting, and he found a new British record. And
that man was Eric Saunders. And he became so expert he
could teach me some things. I never forget that we all
have an influence on others, and other people have an
influence on us; it's give and take. I learned a lot, when
I was younger, from older people. Now, students follow me
around, and some of them prove to be better students than I
am myself.
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