13 June

These lists of notable deaths every year another window into the culture that’s invisible to us. Almost entirely celebrities - rock, film and sports stars, mostly. Others from the entertainment industry. Some politicians (also celebrities). I spotted a token physicist. The same people who would argue black and blue that we’re not all perpetual teenagers fascinated by our favourite bands, wrote homilies to Brian Wilson this week. Right on cue. Does anybody even know who the trailblazing engineers, teachers or materials scientists in the world today are? How about stars of nursing or aged care? Or how’s water desalination going? Crickets. Because that’s not of interest to an eternal teenage culture. It was of interest to the Victorians in England. The people who were rolling out sewer and reticulated water systems, building bridges and train lines and hospitals, were superstars. You can have an adult culture, focused on adult things.