Kirjahaku

False data published by a psychologist influence policies for treating the mentally retarded. A Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist resigns the presidency of Rockefeller University in the wake of a scandal involving a co-author accused of fabricating data. A university investigating committee declares that almost half the published articles of a promising young radiologist are fraudulent. Incidents like these strike at the heart of the scientific enterprise and shake the confidence of a society accustomed to thinking of scientists as selfless seekers of truth. Marcel LaFollette's long-awaited book gives a penetrating examination of the world of scientific publishing in which such incidents of misconduct take place. Because influential scientific journals have been involved in the controversies, LaFollette focuses on the fragile 'peer review' process - the editorial system of seeking pre-publication opinions from experts. She addresses the cultural glorification of science, which, combined with a scientist's thirst for achievement, can seem to make cheating worth the danger. She describes the great risks taken by the accusers - often scholars of less prestige and power than the accused - whom she calls 'nemesis figures' for their relentless dedication to uncovering dishonesty. In sober warning, LaFollette notes that impatient calls from Congress, journalists, and taxpayers for greater accountability from scientists have important implications for the entire system of scientific research and communication. Provocative and learned, "Stealing Into Print" is certain to become the authoritative work on scientific fraud, invaluable to the scientific community, policy makers, and the general public.

The plight of John T. Scopes dominated headlines for weeks, but behind the scenes of the famous ""Monkey Trial"" were other dramas hidden from public view. Now a serendipitous discovery has opened a new window on the ""Trial of the Century,"" enabling modern readers to comprehend more completely the tensions that gripped a Tennessee community - and the nation - in 1925.Historian Marcel LaFollette discovered at the Smithsonian a cache of more than sixty never-before-published photographs taken at the Scopes trial. Her research on these photos sheds new light on the proceedings, as well as on the journalists and scientists who gathered for this epic confrontation between science and tradition.LaFollette takes readers behind the scenes to witness the trial from the perspective of journalist-photographers Watson Davis and Frank Thone, who had come to cover the trial but became informal liaisons between defense attorneys and the scientific community. They observed visitors and events and even befriended John Scopes in the years following the trial. Their impressions offer new views of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan and reveal the role of fascinating characters like George Washington Rappleyea, the cocky promoter who saw the trial as a way to bring publicity, tourists, and new business to Dayton.These photos - trial witnesses and visiting celebrities, an outdoor baptism service, defiant ministers assembled in front of a Dayton church - help ground the Scopes trial in southern religion and culture and relate it to a time and place on the cusp of change. The notes of Davis and Thone preserve keen observations of personalities and events, while letters between Scopes and the two reporters in the years after the trial help illuminate the character of an ordinary young man thrust into extraordinary circumstances.LaFollette weaves an engaging story of friendship, newly minted coalitions between scientists and journalists, and acts of goodwill in the midst of turmoil. Her book enables us to understand better the passions that swept one small town and came to divide the nation.