It’s August, after all. Keep that in mind. Even so, I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t believed it, but apparently, according to SciAm blogger Christopher Mims, Lifecode author Stuart Pivar is suing PZ Myers for libel.
Yes, Stuart is the one who was friends with the late Stephen Jay Gould. Hat tip to Jack, who draws my attention to Mims’ last graff, quoting Myers:
Huh. I’d heard some noise from Pivar threatening to sue, but this is the first I’ve heard of any formal action being taken. Since I’m a defendant (one who hasn’t been notified of his status!) I suppose I should just shut up at this point and let justice run its course. Since I’m a blogger, though, I can’t completely shut up. I will just say that this is Pivar’s attempt to squash a negative review of his book, which I posted here. Nothing in the review was motivated by personal malice, and I actually am inclined to favor structuralist arguments in evolution … but I’m afraid my honest assessment of Pivar’s work is that it does not support his conclusions. I still stand by my review, and now I’m a bit disturbed that someone would think criticism of a scientific hypothesis must be defended by silencing its critics.
Oh, my stars. When has anyone ever have tried to do that before? Just unbelievable.
And yes, PZ Myers is the U of Minnesota biologist who got into a row with Dilbert’s alter ego. Yes, that Dilbert, the baby engineer. Honest.
If PZ were to libel anyone, like, how would we KNOW?ÂÂ
Update: To learn more about Pivar’s actual theory, as opposed to detractions thereof, go here and here. It is a theory of self-organization, it is not an intelligent design theory.