Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Science is also innately uncertain. What makes science strong is that these uncertainties are out there in the open, spelled out and quantified.

"It's essential to know not only what scientists know, but also what they know they don't know. This is an unfamiliar concept to editors used to dealing with politics or sports."

-- K.C. Cole, "Weird Science: Why editors must dare to be dumb", Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2006 (thanks to tdj for pointing it out)

"Science is also innately uncertain. What makes science strong is that these uncertainties are out there in the open, spelled out and quantified.

"It's essential to know not only what scientists know, but also what they know they don't know. This is an unfamiliar concept to editors used to dealing with politics or sports."

-- K.C. Cole, "Weird Science: Why editors must dare to be dumb", Columbia Journalism Review, July/August 2006 (thanks to tdj for pointing it out)

I was recently given a bunch of knives, most nicer than what I'd been using (Thanks, dmk and whc!) and am considering how to store them conveniently. Drawer space in my kitchen is a bit limited, mainly because there's only one drawer in which I've never found evidence of mouse activity, and keeping tools or flatware someplace where I'll have to wash each piece before using it doesn't count as 'convenient' to me. So unless somebody points out a way to mouse-proof another drawer, I'm thinking in terms of: (a) a knife block -- þe olde hunk o' wood with slots in it for the blades -- which I'd probably wind up having to make myself considering the rather eclectic assortment in question (though that one shaped like a person falling backward after being stabbed, the photo of which circulated for a while, does appeal to me) ... or (b) one of those honking big magnetic bars bolted to a wall for the knives to stick to.

So, of course, I'm here this morning to ask y'all for opinions and knowledge, covering aspects of each that I may not have thought of yet, regarding these two methods of knife storage. My concerns are mainly sanitary (worrying about the byproducts of mice and the occasional arthropod -- mostly centipedes and small flying insects) and effects on the condition of the knives (and how long they stay sharp). When it comes to aspects like making sure the magnet is strong enough to hold the knives when an especially heavy truck thunders past, or finding counter space for a knife block, or just integrating the placement of whichever type of holder into the way I move about the kitchen, I think I can figure things out on my own.

Does cruft get into the slots of a knife block and make it unclean eventually? (Does the anti-microbial nature of wood counteract that? Is the ick factor lower than the odds of having a centipede walk across the knives on a wall-mounted magnet?) Does being stuck to a magnet promote corrosion? Should I just get a vermin-proof plastic bin to use as a non-drawer knife drawer?

And, of course, a common bonus question for me: am I overthinking this?

I was recently given a bunch of knives, most nicer than what I'd been using (Thanks, dmk and whc!) and am considering how to store them conveniently. Drawer space in my kitchen is a bit limited, mainly because there's only one drawer in which I've never found evidence of mouse activity, and keeping tools or flatware someplace where I'll have to wash each piece before using it doesn't count as 'convenient' to me. So unless somebody points out a way to mouse-proof another drawer, I'm thinking in terms of: (a) a knife block -- þe olde hunk o' wood with slots in it for the blades -- which I'd probably wind up having to make myself considering the rather eclectic assortment in question (though that one shaped like a person falling backward after being stabbed, the photo of which circulated for a while, does appeal to me) ... or (b) one of those honking big magnetic bars bolted to a wall for the knives to stick to.

So, of course, I'm here this morning to ask y'all for opinions and knowledge, covering aspects of each that I may not have thought of yet, regarding these two methods of knife storage. My concerns are mainly sanitary (worrying about the byproducts of mice and the occasional arthropod -- mostly centipedes and small flying insects) and effects on the condition of the knives (and how long they stay sharp). When it comes to aspects like making sure the magnet is strong enough to hold the knives when an especially heavy truck thunders past, or finding counter space for a knife block, or just integrating the placement of whichever type of holder into the way I move about the kitchen, I think I can figure things out on my own.

Does cruft get into the slots of a knife block and make it unclean eventually? (Does the anti-microbial nature of wood counteract that? Is the ick factor lower than the odds of having a centipede walk across the knives on a wall-mounted magnet?) Does being stuck to a magnet promote corrosion? Should I just get a vermin-proof plastic bin to use as a non-drawer knife drawer?

And, of course, a common bonus question for me: am I overthinking this?