Not everything shrinks in cold water. Although we’re not entirely sure why (we only have some suspicions), the denizens of polar seas are frequently much larger than their temperate relatives.
Since childhood I’ve been of the opinion that I should have been born about 150 years earlier than I eventually managed to be. I would have found myself smack bang in the middle of the most interesting era for naturalists. Had it happened exactly 150 years earlier, I’d have been two years older than Alfred Russel Wallace, a year older than Gregor Mendel, and 12 years older than Benedykt Dybowski. Darwin would have been 12 years my senior, and Alexander von Humboldt, 52 years older. So, at least in terms of period, I would have been in perfect company. Of course, these fantasies are based on the tenuous assumption that I would have been able to receive a proper education back then. As far as I know, my family is descended from various strata of society, but none of them especially affluent, so there’s every chance
