[jacobolus]

“Unhinged” is a pretty uncharitable description, and your “horrified” class sounds a bit closed-minded.

Another way to describe the same is “excitable, passionate, and non-conforming”.

But I would instead say “Cliff Stoll is a national treasure”. I’m super jealous of the middle school kids who got to have him as their science teacher.

[wyclif]

I feel like the world needs more people like Clifford Stoll. He represents one of the last vestiges of the "old, weird America", from a time when "Think Differently" meant something real and wasn't a marketing slogan. Sure he's eccentric, but that's what makes him unique, and I tend to optimize for uniqueness when it comes to things like art, literature, music, and even science.

I read his book The Cuckoo's Egg when I was in high school and I found it vastly entertaining and enlightening. It's dated now but I think people could still get something out of reading it.

[rosser]

> But I would instead say “Cliff Stoll is a national treasure”.

Indeed. The man has more than earned a few eccentricities.