Re: Discovery Institute and Professor J.Y. Chen

From: Allan Harvey (aharvey@boulder.nist.gov)
Date: Fri Jun 02 2000 - 18:56:11 EDT

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    At 04:54 PM 6/2/00 -0500, Paul Nelson wrote:
    >Allan Harvey wrote:
    >
    > > For those who didn't read the original post carefully,
    > > it should be noted that Glenn was not the slanderer
    > > here -- he was posting something (adding his own
    > > cautionary phrases like "may be") somebody else had
    > > written in a reputable journal.
    >
    >Give me a break, Allan. Try this, by way of comparison:
    >
    >"I hear John Doe may be beating his wife. Gee, whaddya
    >think about that?"

    There is a difference between "I hear" and something published in a
    reputable journal. If I see a News item in Science, I feel like I can
    quote it without checking original sources. But a charge that serious
    probably does merit an attempt at verification before passing it on,
    especially when you are just an e-mail away.

    >Professor J.Y. Chen has worked with Professor Paul
    >Chien (a Discovery Fellow) of the Department of Biology
    >at the University of San Francisco. Prof. Chien was involved
    >in helping to organize the body plans meeting, and other
    >Discovery Fellows (myself, Jonathan Wells) corresponded
    >with J.Y. Chen about the talks we planned to give, as
    >did all the presenters. But at no time was the Discovery
    >Institute a formal sponsor of the meeting.

    Thank you for clarifying the relationships (and lack thereof).

    While I think the picture Phil Johnson and others paint of conspiratorial
    scientists working to crush opposition to Darwinian evolution is
    exaggerated, this hatchet job from Hughes is a reminder that there are some
    underlying grains of truth.

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    | Dr. Allan H. Harvey | aharvey@boulder.nist.gov |
    | Physical and Chemical Properties Division | "Don't blame the |
    | National Institute of Standards & Technology | government for what I |
    | 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303 | say, or vice versa." |
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