In “Despite Occasional Scandals, Science Can Police Itself” (Chronicle of Higher Education, , December 3, 2011) Alan Kraut graciously allows us to all know:
Such egregious cases are rare, and they are harmful to the scientific enterprise. But it’s important that they be recognized as the aberrations they are. Science is not immune to lying and cheating, any more than are banking, medicine, or the law. It is also worth noting that Stapel was caught. True, he did get away with his intellectual crimes for far too long, embarrassingly so, but in the end it was the suspicions of his colleagues and students that exposed him. Scientific inquiry is guided by laboratory conventions and publishing rules that promote integrity and minimize the publication of false conclusions. This is equally true of all the sciences, just as it is true that all the sciences have been vexed by scoundrels.
Aw c’mon. In the current setting, “settled science” is a Cadillac for fraud. Our pharmacists may need to count out every dose. But uttering nonsense about human evolution, origin of life, or origin of the universe can be a fraud? You can probably get tenure and get paid. David DeWolf answers the nonsense here.