Footnotes

Image via Wikipedia

One of the things I learned as an adults that sometimes there was pretty amazing stuff hidden in the footnotes. They function not only as a place to indicate where information and ideas comes from but as a place for the author to put points that aren't strictly on topic.

I first found this in a comprehensive American history book where the author included not only details that weren't in his text but often made wry remarks.

As I've read more books with extensive footnotes, I've learned this is pretty common. Often if you want to find the author's sense of humour on a point, you'll find it in the footnotes. Or if you want to find what other topics might relate to a point, again the footnotes.

Of course, students rarely get to learn this as textbooks don't footnote much or anything factually and instead only footnote things like definitions of words or dry facts that relate to the text itself.