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The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science
Fraud permeates all types of institutions today and now the world of science, the last bastion of respect and trust, is no exception. Dozens of cases have been uncovered in the past quarter-century-and the headlines continue. We can no longer shrug off fraud in science as the work of aberrant individual scientists, Horace Freeland Judson argues. Instead, we must look for its causes and its remedies in the structures and cultures of the scientific institutions themselves. Judson carefully details all types of scientific fraud and how they happen; considers the self-government of the sciences, including peer review and the refereeing of papers; and exposes the failures of academic, governmental, and legal responses. He also shows how the movement toward Internet publication of papers promises remarkable new checks on fraud and suggests how we can restore and defend the integrity of the greatest monument of human endeavor- the sciences.
- GenresScienceNonfiction
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2004
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About the author
Horace Freeland Judson
14 books16 followersHorace Freeland Judson is a historian of molecular biology and the author of several books, including The Eighth Day of Creation, a history of molecular biology, and The Great Betrayal: Fraud In Science, an examination of the deliberate manipulation of scientific data.
The Eighth Day of Creation is a monumental work. Arising out of Judson's acquaintance with Max Perutz in 1968 came the idea of a book about the discovery of the structures of cellular macromolecules. Following a discussion with Jacques Monod in 1969, Judson expanded his planned book to a general history of molecular biology. The result is based on interviews of over 100 scientists, cross-checked and re-interviewed over a period of seven years. The book was partially serialized in three issues of The New Yorker in November and December, 1978. Following the publication of the book, Judson deposited the tapes and transcripts of the interviews at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Judson graduated from the University of Chicago in 1948, and worked for seven years for Time Magazine as a European correspondent in London and Paris. He subsequently wrote for The New Yorker, Harper's, and Nature among others. Judson spent four years as a research scholar at Stanford University and then nine years on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. He was the director of the now defunct Center for History of Recent Science and Research Professor of History at George Washington University. In 1987 Judson won a MacArthur Fellowship.
He appears in Don't Look Back, D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film about Bob Dylan, in which he was subjected to what he believes to be a contrived tirade of abuse from Dylan. During Judson's interview, Dylan launched into a verbal attack on Time magazine, and Judson himself. The film's producer Pennebaker does not believe the tirade was planned, but notes that Dylan backed off, not wanting to come across as being too cruel. However, Judson believes the confrontation was contrived to make the sequence more entertaining. "That evening," says Judson, "I went to the concert. My opinion then and now was that the music was unpleasant, the lyrics inflated, and Dylan, a self-indulgent whining show off."
The Eighth Day of Creation is a monumental work. Arising out of Judson's acquaintance with Max Perutz in 1968 came the idea of a book about the discovery of the structures of cellular macromolecules. Following a discussion with Jacques Monod in 1969, Judson expanded his planned book to a general history of molecular biology. The result is based on interviews of over 100 scientists, cross-checked and re-interviewed over a period of seven years. The book was partially serialized in three issues of The New Yorker in November and December, 1978. Following the publication of the book, Judson deposited the tapes and transcripts of the interviews at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Judson graduated from the University of Chicago in 1948, and worked for seven years for Time Magazine as a European correspondent in London and Paris. He subsequently wrote for The New Yorker, Harper's, and Nature among others. Judson spent four years as a research scholar at Stanford University and then nine years on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. He was the director of the now defunct Center for History of Recent Science and Research Professor of History at George Washington University. In 1987 Judson won a MacArthur Fellowship.
He appears in Don't Look Back, D. A. Pennebaker's documentary film about Bob Dylan, in which he was subjected to what he believes to be a contrived tirade of abuse from Dylan. During Judson's interview, Dylan launched into a verbal attack on Time magazine, and Judson himself. The film's producer Pennebaker does not believe the tirade was planned, but notes that Dylan backed off, not wanting to come across as being too cruel. However, Judson believes the confrontation was contrived to make the sequence more entertaining. "That evening," says Judson, "I went to the concert. My opinion then and now was that the music was unpleasant, the lyrics inflated, and Dylan, a self-indulgent whining show off."
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2015
Well written book about fraud in science. Many cases are expounded which are available by a well thought out analysis. The matured writing style of this veteran science writer almost makes you miss his sometime rather personal, idiosyncratic view on certain matters. Almost. Yet in a way that is, I must say, rather a compliment. The research on the specific fraud cases seems extensive but presented to the point. Only when the book gets into the legal part of fraud in science you sometimes have to fight the urge to go watch the latest House of Cards season-especially the last chapter seems a bit or of place because of this. Judson could have spared the reader, this one at least, some frustration by summarizing it all a bit more. All in all a good book.
June 3, 2020
A bit dated, but quite good. Judson's predictions regarding the death of traditional peer review of grants and manuscripts have proven to be premature at best. They still exist, and they do so with all the attendant problems he points out. Similarly, his ideas of the wonders open access, web-based journals would work for science have not come to pass. It is fairly depressing that very little has actually been done to correct the issues of fraud in science that Judson points out. Indeed, though dated, it is nowhere near as dated as it really should be given the time that has passed. Speaking qua scientist, that is really not good.
July 2, 2016
Eye opening to read about so much fraud being used in science which is an alternative political playground for some whom have a lot to gain and cannot quite resist the temptations of money and power. The way inoculation was put forward for example as being scientific calls into question the very grounds upon which vaccination is placed..
November 29, 2024
2.5 stars
Although some of the stories were interesting and thought provoking, it was not well written. Dry, drawn out, repetitive, and organized in a weird way, it made it difficult to even reach the point the author was trying to make.
Although some of the stories were interesting and thought provoking, it was not well written. Dry, drawn out, repetitive, and organized in a weird way, it made it difficult to even reach the point the author was trying to make.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews