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Betrayers of the Truth

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Not a great book, but a very important one. I first read _Betrayers_ in graduate school, when I was still innocent and naive, believing that no scientist would ever compromise her reputation by any form of intellectual dishonesty. Further, I believed that anyone who did would inevitably be found out--that's how the scientific method works, right? Reading this book has made me much more skeptical of claims that seem to be revolutionary, a change in my attitude toward science that has proven valuable more than once. This is a book that should be required reading for graduate students (and possibly undergraduates) in science fields. Every scientist has been tempted to write things down the way they should be instead of the way they really are, to "fudge" data or present results in the best light. The pressure of a professor, granting agency or tenure committee breathing down your neck may make the temptation to produce results at any cost much worse. Knowing the stories presented in _Betrayers of the Truth_ has made it easier for me to be scrupulously honest in my records of my work and to avoid even the most innocent forms of scientific dishonesty.

I'd like to see a new edition of this, with coherent beginning-to-end coverage of some of the high-profile cases that have surfaced in the years since its original publication. Younger scientists may have a hard time piecing together a complete story from the fragments of coverage in the news and in trade magazines.

One of the best references showing controversies concerning the analysis and presentation of scientific data. From Pilttown man to Millikan case a wide variety of topics related to scientific fraud and deceit. The best introductory survey on the subject of scientific dishonesty.The main point is that we need more precise descriptions of the moral failings involved in cases of fabrication and falsification if we are to understand the causes of these defections and betrayals. The book is carefully researched and contains a wealth of material about fraud and deceit in science.

REVIEW OF 'BETRAYERS OF THE TRUTH: FRAUD AND DECEIT IN SCIENCE'

Authors: William Broad and Nicholas Wade

Reviewer: William P. Palmer


Betrayers of the Truth is on the first reading a pleasant, light, easy to read book, with an interesting and true series of stories to tell. Its topic is that of scientists who used underhand means to try to achieve their ambitions of fame and fortune: some were successful in this aim and their fraud may not have been discovered until many years after their death: others were caught red-handed in their deceit. For some of the scientists one may feel at least a twinge of human sympathy: others seem to deserve all they got.

So, on the basis of the well-told histories of a large number of fraudulent scientists alone, I can certainly recommend this book. However there is a deeper level at which the book is also fascinating. It explores a niche between the sociology of science and the philosophy of science, which is seldom explored. By focusing on bad and dishonest science it casts light upon the nature of good and truthful science and helps us see the problems in what we call scientific method. The authors consider "the scientific method" to be a polite fiction, largely a product of a uniform style of reporting science insisted upon by refereed journals when reporting scientific results.

What types of fraud are there? The authors quote Babbage (the inventor of the calculating machine) as categorising scientific fraud as "trimming" (clipping bits off results above the average and adding them to results below the average), "cooking" or selective reporting (utilising only some of a large number of observations) or forging (extracting numbers from thin air).

How does science protect itself against fraud? The authors after looking at numerous examples basically conclude that the answer to this question is "not very well", though they do detail time and again the defences that scientists claim protect science from fraud. These are said to be peer review, refereeing, the replication of results, and "universalism" (in the sense that scientific results are independent of the race, religion, class and creed of the investigators). They then show in many cases how each of these defences has actually failed in practice.This leaves as the sole protectors of good science, time and the invisible boot which kicks out poor science because eventually it just does not work as well as good science.

Nonetheless, we are not allowed the luxury of thinking that even these will protect science against internal injustice of lesser kinds, such as minor plagiarism, and incorrect credit being for some discoveries. Perhaps the most worrying example of this is where the head of a program of research takes all the credit for discoveries made by his research team, even when the major evidence and interpretation has come from a junior colleague. The instance of Hewish's Nobel prize in astrophysics (pp. 143-148) for the discovery of pulsars appears to be a particularly unfortunate example of this trend.

I have found this to be a very useful book in teaching the history and philosophy of science in university courses as it raises so many questions about the nature of science: it has also encouraged me to keep a collection of articles from newspapers and journals about other instances of fraud. However I can imagine that classroom science teachers may well wonder what this has to do with them and with their teaching of science. I would simply challenge them to read the book and comment that a few stories about some of the fraudsters at suitable points in a science course will enable pupils to see science as a much more human and fallible enterprise than it is usually made out to be. Students will also learn that the trimming, cooking and fabrication of experimental results is not as new or original as they may have thought.
BILL PALMER

This is a fascinating read showing how pervasive fraud is in modern day science. The book was written 3 decades ago but I suspect that the ground rules of science have not changed significantly since that time. The accounts of the various fraudsters are vivid and would be hard to believe had we not just seen this kind of behavior in our financial markets. Even icons like Newton and Galileo were caught cooking the books. A "must read" for every research scientist.

A fascinating story of intellect seduced by the temptation of fame. The author recounts the studies of scientific historians bringing to light the deception of famous scientists:
- Ptolemy who took the credit from another Greek astronomer, Hipparchus;
- Galileo, father of empiricism, who's experiments defied replication;
- Newton who, from his lofty seat as president of the Royal Society, accused Leibniz of
plagiary while doctoring supporting measurements to make his own Principia more
persuasive.

From there the author describes more modern plagiarism and outright deceit within the scientific community.

This is a great read for those seeking a career in the sciences or in engineering.

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This book is a real eye opener. Its a must read. I recommend it to anyone trying to understand how the scientific community works.