[Sca-cooks] Teaching in the SCA

[Terry Decker]

One of the don'ts that I have is, "Don't throw extraneous tidbits into a 
handout that have nothing to do with the subject you are teaching."

I developed this rule during the presentation of a paper on late period 
Dutch furniture.  While the author lectured, I did a quick read of the 
paper.  The author had thrown in a comment on potatoes being widely eaten in 
the Low Countries in 1586 (IIRC).  Since I know from contemporary sources 
that Carolus Clusius, who was the curator of the botanical garden in Leyden, 
didn't receive his sample until 1587 and that potatoes were mostly a 
botanical curiosity in Northern Europe until, at least, the next century, 
the cute throw away "fact" made me wonder about the accuracy and 
thoroughness of the main work.

Bear