Petra,

Well-said, although I was surprised by the Dave Jackson reference. You mean either David Johnson, the volcanologist who died in the St. Helens eruption, or Dave Jackson, the seismologist who still works down the hall from me. Scientists actually depend less on physical appearence than most; we have years to judge our fellow scientists, being right is carefully monitored through the literature, and a large proportion of us are slobs.

John