Tim Birkhead's report that some school biology textbooks say there is a purpose behind the laying of eggs in great quantities by fish ("How duff exams spawn failure", 13 November) would make you laugh if it didn't make you cry. Maybe all potential biology teachers should be tested with a simple question about the causal relationship between the length of giraffes' necks and the height of leaves above the ground.
Michael Bulley, Chalon-sur-Saone France.