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Puttin’ the Objective in Objectivity

Jared Diamond, author of Collapse , wrote a book review of Questioning Collapse – a critique of his own book – for Nature: International Weekly Journal of Science . Without mentioning that Questioning Collapse was, well, questioning Collapse . Sound shady? We think so too. Watch the morality debate rage on via StinkyJournalism.org and learn more about the ethical and factual mistakes that QC contributor Carl Lipo thinks Jared Diamond made on Evolution Beach.

Asides

• Washington, DC: Thursday, March 18 (9:30 a.m.): Carol Swain, author of The New White Nationalism in America and editor of Debating Immigration, will be speaking on a great panel organized by the Center for Immigration Studies: “Stopping ‘Hate’ Is Really about Stopping Debate.” Featured panel speakers include Pulitzer Prize winning author Jerry Kammer and Harper’s Magazine’s Ken Silverstein. RSVP required. Full details here... #
• Just stumbled across McSweeney's Open Letter to Cambridge University Press, Regarding Odor. For the uninitiated, these are usually letters addressed "To People Or Entities Who Are Unlikely Respond." Well, Benjamin, we love you starving college students and we can take a hint. Apologies for the offense to your olfaction... hope the exam went well regardless! #
• "Great science doesn't stand still. It picks up and carries ideas and findings way beyond the wildest hopes of its founders." -- Michael Ruse, one of our favorite Darwin defenders and author of the forthcoming Science and Spirituality. Get a double dose of Ruse by checking out his take on What Darwin Got Wrong (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux) in Philosophers Rip Darwin on The Chronicle Review, and visit his most recent post on The Chronicle of Higher Ed's blog, Brainstorm. #
• Heavy snow warning in effect.  Today's view from the office... #
• Peer-reviewed science - the time-honored system of scholars vetting scholars - faces challenges in the face of scandals such as Climategate. spiked looks at the flaws in this esoteric system and shows what happens when dogma and ego collide - turning peer review into modern-day holy scripture... #
• The Page 99 Test features Kristin Anderson's Benign Bigotry today, and that page finds Anderson in a discussion of criminality and blame -- that is, a subtle form of prejudice assuming that good things happen to good people, and bad things to bad people. #
• Preferential trade agreements have exploded in number over the past decade. But what do they really achieve? Mark Manger explains the ins and outs of international trade for Rorotoko, and manages to make international law fascinating in the process. #
• The New York Times reports on a Penn-Wharton School study of what makes an article get shared most, or go "viral." The results are surprising and refreshing. Apparently, you guys like science! Read it!>> #
• The massive, comprehensive Dictionary of Irish Biography was awarded the 2009 American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) for Best Multivolume Reference work in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Congratulations to the Royal Irish Academy, the editors, and all involved here at the Press. #
• When restoration of a Michelangelo painting in St. Peter's at the Vatican revealed the later addition of some elements, the resulting dispute pit art against theology and history. Michelangelo expert William Wallace comments in the Independent. #
• Where does the buck stop? The NYT TierneyLab looks at science and money, along with all of the attendant "conflicts of interest" between sound science and the money tied up in it. Read here >> #
• Historian Brian Balogh was recently interviewed on With Good Reason, discussing the (surprisingly) active 19th century government that laid the foundation for America's rise. Listen >> #