The author became an editor of the senior British journal "Annals of Science" in 1974, under rather strange circumstances and with no prior warning. In this article, the author describes the circumstances and their background. As the history of science developed and broadened in the 1960s the journal seemed never to reject anything; the pressure of papers led in 1972 to an increase in the number of issues per year from four to six. Editor Dr. N. H. de V. Heathcote followed the advice that he required some assistance in the editing since many articles needed substantial amounts of resetting at proof stage. The author mentions that Heathcote got in touch with him as he was the only author Heathcote knew at that time. He added that he was very unhappy with the contents of the journal and so were the other authors. He and the publishers discussed various forms of action that they might take in improving the journal. Suddenly now he could be the first editor of "Annals of Science" and all because of accidents to do with diplomatic relations, types of history, and places of residence. He realized that had he rejected that invitation to be the editor, the company would soon have terminated the agreement to publish the journal. (Contains 6 footnotes.)