Laughing matters: A serious look at humour

Why do we find certain people and certain situations funny? Why do we laugh? Why do we pay people to make us laugh? In short, what is humour for? These are some of the questions dealt with in this book, which is based on a series of lectures given under the Presidency of Dr Jonathan Miller at the 1987 Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. It aims to present a serious but amusing look at humour by scientists and scholars, cartoonists and comedians.