A brief anecdote illustrates, perhaps, that even two-time Nobel Prize winners can be misled by the juggling of ambiguous criteria. Linus Pauling, a long-time proponent of vitamin C as an antidote to the common cold and other physical ailments, was once asked whether it was true that he and his wife (who, of course, make sure they consume the requisite amount of the vitamin) no longer suffer from colds. “It is true,” he said, “We don’t get colds at all.” Then he added, “Just sniffles.”16
