Chester's Big Break

This is the story of Chester, the first cat to ever publish a physics paper. Chester isn't just any cat—he's known as the greatest feline physicist of all time. It all started with his owner, Jack, who was working on some important research results. Jack wanted to publish the work in a scientific journal, but there was a small problem.

A Curious Pronoun Problem

Jack's paper kept using the word we instead of I. A colleague pointed out that if Jack wanted to submit the paper as a single author, he needed to use I. Back then, papers were written on typewriters, so changing it would mean retyping the entire paper! Jack found an easier solution: he decided to bring on a co-author.

Enter FDC Willard

Jack's first choice for a co-author was, of course, his cat Chester. To make it less obvious that Chester was a cat, Jack gave him a pen name: FDC Willard. FDC stands for Felis Domesticus Chester, which is the scientific name for a house cat, combined with Chester's name and his dad's name, Willard. The paper was accepted and published under the names Jack and FDC Willard.

The Secret's Out

After the paper was published, Jack sent some signed copies to his friends and even included FDC Willard's paw print. That's when people figured out that FDC Willard was actually a cat! Instead of rejecting the idea, the physics community loved having a cat colleague. Chester, under the name FDC Willard, even published another paper all by himself.

Chester’s Legacy

Chester's work as FDC Willard is highly respected and can be found on Google Scholar. His journey from being a regular house cat to a notable physicist shows that anyone, or any cat, can make a big difference!