Monday, November 30, 2009

Quote of the Day

Here lies a reproduction of one of the e-mails brought to light in the East Anglia global warming kerfuffle. The author is offering a course of labor to a colleague, involving an attempt to reconcile the works of several competing, and very thin-skinned post-docs.

After going through six complex steps, which may or may not involve some or all of the others, step 7 is:

7) Publish, retire, and don't leave a forwarding address.
Probably good advice, as some of the people whose data you'd be massaging control your share of the government millions they get to come up with results, and if you suggest that any of what they have so far is anything but pure gospel, you'll soon discover how nice it is, comparitively, to be a mini-skirted hooker in Mecca.

Which brings us to the actual quote. The writer is already familiar with the available data and notes:

We know with certainty that we know f**k-all.
Edward Cook
Which is what many of us suspected all along.

Gives me an idea for a book: "Pontificating for Fun and Prophet"

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