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RE: Berkeley lab found research fabricated
Hi Folks,
Me again. Just a thought on the subject.....Perhaps a point of view on things which has escaped attention in most circles.'Hypothetically'....Let's say you worked at a lab and you were on a research team for .....ooohhhhh .....let's say chemical explosives. And let's say....hypothetically that you discovered a chemical compound so unbelievably explosive that a chunk of it the size of a ball point pen would vaporize the state of Texas instantly if accidentally mixed with orange juice. Your boss....and his bos, and his boss, and his boss......well , you get it, ...would probably not want you to go public with such a discovery, let alone begin producing the stuff. Long story short...You want your credit, won't shut up... they have no choice but to either discredit you or do away with all of the orange juice in the world in the interest of saving the Texans......Hypothetically. You can take what you like from all this. Of course this is only an opinion.......a hypothetical opinion!
!
....not even mine... Oliver Stone is making me write it under durress......he has a feather....tickling my....feet.... can't...reach....the....phone.....must....call....Underdog...!
Not very sincerely,
Floyd W.Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jack_Earley@RL.GOV [mailto:Jack_Earley@RL.GOV]
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 6:25 PM
To: faseiler@NMIA.COM; elb@BECHTELJACOBS.ORG
Cc: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; jalvarez@nxs.net; jalvarez@auxier.com;
gjnewton1937@AOL.COM
Subject: RE: Berkeley lab found research fabricated
Interesting--I was yelled out once (literally, but I won't say how long ago
it was) by a guy because I told him his procedure wouldn't work as written
and I wouldn't sign it until it was fixed. He said it wasn't my business
because it had nothing to do with ALARA. My being correct didn't seem to
have anything to do with it. My supervisor later said that although all
input is appreciated, I couldn't hold up a work package except for ALARA. So
subsequently my comments were on the order of, "Steps x.x.x through y.y.y
are unsafe and conflict with section z.z.z., but it's not an ALARA concern,"
and then signed it. Had the same effect, and everything I signed went into a
permanent project file.
I've even examined computer code before when my name was on a document, and
once found where the conclusions in the text were in direct conflict with
the code--turned out to be typographical errors, but would have looked bad
if missed since I was the last reviewer. I still spot-check structural
calculations, although the CEs can't understand why I bother. However, one
of our mechanical engineers recently questioned some structural calculations
that didn't seem to pass his "snicker" test, and he was correct. So the
bottom line for me is that other people have good general knowledge of ALARA
that can be useful (although everyone thinking s/he can also be a
radiological engineer does get old when they work from faulty information),
and sometimes I'm going to be asking questions that will impact what they
do. I would expect physicists to work the same way--although they may be
specialized, they should still have enough general knowledge of the other
specialties to know when the snicker test results are in question. (For ESL
readers, a snicker is a stifled laugh, which in this case results from
reading or hearing something obviously incredible.)
Jack Earley
Radiological Engineer
-----Original Message-----
From: Fritz A. Seiler [mailto:faseiler@NMIA.COM]
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2002 2:27 PM
To: Algutifan, Elizabeth K. (ELB)
Cc: RADSAFE; jalvarez; jalvarez@auxier.com; gjnewton
Subject: Re: Berkeley lab found research fabricated
"Algutifan, Elizabeth K. (ELB)" wrote:
>
> Is it just me, or does this not add up? If I were putting my name on a
> professional publication and, subsequently, my professional reputation on
> the line, I would want to have a thorough understanding of the research
> conducted before I signed on to it. Sheesh.
Hi Elizabeth and All,
Unfortunately, it does add up, in some ways! This paper
had 15 authors, and many elementary particle papers have 50 or
more! Why? Because the complexity of modern physics experiments
demands a wide range of such a high expertise that it is only
found in a multitude of physicists!
I was once asked if I would participate in an experiment
that would measure neutrino life times (a finite lifetime means
that they have mass and decay into each other). It was a really
great experimental setup using a 1 GWe Swiss nuclear power plant,
and the result is now one of the fundamental facts of particle
physics. But the prospect of working with one or two Nobelists
and about 50 co-authors dampened my enthusiasm and I declined. You
work hard in your own field to contribute the very best you can to
the project and have too much to do to keep an eye on anything else!
That was what kept me from relying too much on too many others in
neighboring fields of physics. That is a sad fact of elementary
particle physics, and Nuclear Physics in Super-heavy nuclei is not
much different.
I agree with you that if my name is on the paper, I want to
understand every detail of that work. It may be old fashioned but
then so am I!
Fritz
************************
Fritz A. Seiler, Ph. D.
President
Sigma Five Consulting
P.O. Box 1709
Los Lunas, NM 87031, USA
Tel. 505-866-5193
Fax. 505-866-5197
e-mail: faseiler@nmia.com
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