Sloppy scholarship

From: Katharine Thayer ^lt;kthayer@pacifier.com>
Date: 04/29/04-01:08:55 PM Z
Message-id: <409152BF.513C@pacifier.com>

Richard Knoppow wrote:
>

> I think this is a pretty good example of the sort of
> thing Ryuji Suzuki has warned about old literature. I've
> found the same thing in both photographic literature and in
> my researches into sound recording some years ago. One must
> try to trace statements back to original sources. Sometimes
> those sources are mis-quoted, sometimes the those citing the
> work haven't really read it (meaning it doesn't really say
> what the citer thinks it does), and sometimes the original
> work is just plain wrong. I'm afraid this sort of sloppy
> scholarship is not confined to old publications, one can
> find all sorts of examples in more recent popular work.
>

Thanks, but you don't have to convince me; I spent a few years of my
life teaching classes on how to write research
reports, how to read research reports, how to critically analyze
research reports. It's not of course the first time I've seen this kind
of stuff, but I guess I'm more used to seeing it in fields like social
sciences, education, medicine, business, than in science publications;
that did shock me a bit.

I haven't actually seen the original paper yet but have sent for it, and
then I'll see on what basis the claim is made that gelatin can be
hardened by exposure to UV. Stay tuned,
Katharine
Received on Thu Apr 29 20:30:57 2004

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