The inverse care law has had its day

Half way through my sixth year at school I received an unconditional acceptance from university. My last few months were spent playing cards, dodging class, sharing cigarettes in the toilets, and attempting to blow up the chemistry equipment. A better preparation for university I could not have had. It was preferable to the current fad of sending our children on a gap year to naively smoke cannabis on a beach in countries that impose a life sentence for listening to Janis Joplin.

I did learn one thing in those last six months: the inverse square law. This relates …