When I first joined the American Physical Society sixty-seven years ago it was much smaller, much gentler, and as yet uncorrupted by the money flood (a threat against which Dwight Eisenhower warned a half-century ago). Indeed, the choice of physics as a profession was then a guarantor of a life of poverty and abstinence—it was World War II that changed all that. The prospect of worldly gain drove few physicists. As recently as thirty-five years ago, when I chaired the first APS study of a contentious social/scientific issue, The Reactor Safety Study, though there were zealots aplenty on the outside there was no hint of inordinate pressure on us as physicists. We were therefore able to produce what I believe was and is an honest appraisal of the situation at that time. We were further enabled by the presence of an oversight committee consisting of Pief Panofsky, Vicki Weisskopf, and Hans Bethe, all towering physicists beyond reproach. I was proud of what we did in a charged atmosphere. In the end the oversight committee, in its report to the APS President, noted the complete independence in which we did the job, and predicted that the report would be attacked from both sides. What greater tribute could there be?
How different it is now.
I wonder how the APS is going to marginalize Mr.Lewis,who is,much to my delight, a throwback to the days when “integrity” meant,”honesty, sincerity,uprightness”!
I MUST be getting old, as I pine for the days when damned near everyone believed that “honesty is the best policy”.
How quaint was our thinking in those days,as we lacked the sophistication of today,when SELF rules over all.
Well, the attacks on Lewis will be first about his age, that he’s somehow ‘lost his capacity’, and that he is not accounting for the subtleties and nuances of ‘new age physics’ which is required when viewing global warming, sorry, climate change, ooops, climate disruption. The claims that he somehow is in the pocket of ‘Big Oil’ will be there of course, with no substance naturally. They’ll dig into his personal background and see if he is a Christian. You know, a fundamentalist Christian. Or they’ll just ignore him completely as if it never happened. Hal Lewis? Who’s Hal Lewis? Never heard of him, did you just make him up?
Thanks for posting this, Cjunk. An eminent scientist bucking the ruling class is certainly news. The actions described provide more evidence, if more evidence is needed, of the Lysenkoization of US science by the left.
I simply must agree with grok as to the reaction by the left….the reaction will likely be influenced by how much exposure this Lewis letter gets. If this letter should gain MSM exposure, expect a vicious full court press…
Note that I designated “the left” rather than the “scientific establishment”. Which really is the point of Lewis’ letter.
Grok, a recent poll selected “Irritable Climate Syndrome” as the nom du jour for all of this silliness.
Thank you Cjunk.
Climategate clearly exposed the corruption of science in the pursuit of AGW politics.
The local public library has just one copy of Montford’s book, whereas there are dozens & dozens of Gore’s “works”. (same library owns 30 copies of Avatar)
There is much work to be done to begin to undo the damage wrought by these propagandists.
PHSHHHHHH: We see the same thing in all levels of higher learning where the Idea of Ideas has lost any touchstone it ever had with reality. Just as the medieval church lost its followers when its discussions became ever more esoteric which led to the enlightenment and reformation so too will (are) the present elites lose(ing) their place of honour.
Another Professor Emeritus. Isn’t it funny how many of the top-of-the-field level people who do not agree with AGW are those who no longer need the research grants?
Among the “in” crowd there will be whisperings that
Lewis (no relation to me BTW) was at outs with someone or lost out on a grant or whatever.
Integrity is explained away as a more subtle form of corruption. The assumption is always that the “researcher” will do anything for a grant dollar,
and worth is evaluated entirely in terms of grants brought in. “She’s well funded” is the highest accolade.
// I wonder how the APS is going to marginalize Mr.Lewis //
HE quit.
Lewis is probably still pissed at the reception given a petition to the APS to change its position on AGW.
In 9 months of effort, 206 [of 47 000] members signed.
Many were prominent elder statemen of the profession, but only one had a career in climate science.
From a “social network” analyis of the petitioners. [see Mashey]
Organizers. Figure 6.2 shows the 6 organizers at center. In order of signing the Nature letter, they are: S.
Fred Singer, Hal Lewis, Will Happer, Larry Gould, Roger Cohen, and Robert H. Austin.
Harold W Lewis (1923) is a well-known nuclear-power, safety and defense expert, now Emeritus at UCSB after a long career there. Many people in the nuclear industry would know him.[…] was also a JASON, so that Happer is the likeliest recruiter.
Unlike the other Organizers, most of whom have been vocally dedicated for years, I have not located any additional activity from him. His 1990 book, Technological Risk included fairly straightforward science-based positions on tobacco, acid rain, and global warming that would have conflicted with those of Heartland and GMI.
Of course, Physics, like Biology, is big science now. Eisenhower’s warning about the “military-industrial complex” went unheeded.
Government funding corrupts science, like it does practically everything else.
The impact of WWII on modern life has had innumerable aspects. IMO the Allied propaganda machine created to battle the Axis morphed after the war. While an absolute necessity in WWII its’ success did not go unnoticed by politicans or industry. The realization that reality could be ‘twisted’ to achieve particular goals evolved into what we see today. Unfortunately as we move on the truth is sacrificed with less and less impunity.
ct said: “Unfortunately as we move on the truth is sacrificed with less and less impunity.”
That is very true. On the upside, the -visibility- of these lies is becoming quite excellent. Bloggers are doing some serious damage to the warmies just by reporting facts.
The destruction of the surface temperature measuring system is an example.
The old gaffer still has a fire in his belly.
Good on him. I really respect people like this that put truth over the lie every time. Folks like this make the World a tolerable place to live in. To bad they are dying out to be replaced by Reptiles who eat dollars.
Not scientists who look for the verity of things. But than this is no surprise, its relativism creep into all our organizations to the point a DR can now suck a babies brains out while being born & go home to kiss his daughter.
Its a world in which children are depicted as useless parasites, or a joke to use in an Eco-terrorist snuff film.
All for this perversion of science.
There are no ethics ,nor Morality left even in the sterile confines of a lab.
Secular humanism with its children, multiculturalism with a social Progressivism have set us up for Societal suicide.
If not a dark age.
JMO
He will be ignored. He is correct — it is about the money — and also titles, and privilege, and position. Societies like this one long ago ceased to be about the science. Yes it is corrupt, and few actually care.
And still nothing in the MSM about it.